Pandemonium
by EarnestlyBunburying
Summary: Alexander Gideon Lightwood-Alec-has his life changed with the sudden announcement of his investiture as Crown Prince of Idris; he soon will move to Alicante, the capital, and begin a new chapter in his life, the last chapter in his life. Rated M for possible future lemons. Enjoy! P.S. The prologue is a framing device. The real story starts with Chapter 1.
1. Prologue

**Pandemonium: Prologue**  
_All characters depicted herein belong to Ms. Cassandra Clare. This is purely a work of fiction; all resemblances to other characters not of Ms. Clare's imagination are completely coincidental. I thank you for taking the time to read this; furthermore, I thank any of you who choose to review my work. Enjoy!_

As I sat down on the chair across from the wiry young man with the dark hair and spectacles, he smiled softly and said "Welcome, friend." Apparently he had received my instructions ahead of time; he had already laid out the paper and the pen; he seemed eager to begin, but I was not about to dispense with the pleasantries. I quickly introduced myself, and then he proceeded to introduce himself. His name was something unpronounceable in a foreign language—Italian perhaps—so he asked me to call him by his professional name, Il Professore—the Professor.

So this was the famed Professor; he didn't look as old as he was supposed to. Noticing my stare, he said, "I'm older than I look, but not nearly as old as I act." What did that even mean? He was supposed to be an enigma. Rumor was, some rich patron paid him to travel the world and find the most interesting stories; he would collect these stories from the tellers, and bring them back to his patron.

That's why I was here. I had a story to tell, a story to give the Professor. He gave me the look of inquisitiveness, wondering when we would start. With a sigh, I began to tell him that this was one of the oldest stories I knew, a tale of love, lust, power, and of course death. Upon the mention of the last of those, he muttered something incomprehensible that sounded like "Valor More Ghoulish." I told him the title of my story: The Tragedy of Alexander Gideon Lightwood, Prince of Idris. For some reason he found that hilarious; he almost fell out of his seat laughing. I asked why. He told me that the title was plagiarizing from another old story called "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark." I guffawed, noticing the similarities immediately. I quickly picked another title: Pandemonium. Nodding vigorously, he set his pen to paper, and I began to say the story, the story of a thousand generations, the story of an ancient ancestor, the story of Alexander Gideon Lightwood...

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Just wanted to let you all know that this is just the framing device for the story. The actual part that starts with Alec comes next chapter. As a warning, though, the framing device sometimes comes back into the story, so don't be too alarmed.


	2. Chapter 1

**Pandemonium: Chapter 1**

_All characters depicted herein belong to Ms. Cassandra Clare. This is purely a work of fiction; all resemblances to other characters not of Ms. Clare's imagination are completely coincidental. I thank you for taking the time to read this; furthermore, I thank any of you who choose to review my work. Enjoy!_

Alec woke with a start. Looking quickly out his window, he noticed that it was still dark, but the castle lights had dimmed significantly. His best estimate considered it sometime between 2 and 4 in the morning. It was never his plan to wake this early; something had woken his mind from restful sleep. Then he heard it again: the horn of the Arken. It was still too far away to wake the rest of the castle, but he dressed quickly enough anyway, preparing to hear the imminent announcement.

Upon the third call of the horn, the rest of the castle began to awaken. As Alec rushed down to his father's reception room, he noticed the looks of the servants. "What do they know that I don't?" he puzzled as he swiftly moved down to the chamber. When he arrived he realized that he was a little late; his mother, Maryse, and sister, Isabelle, had already made their way down. Isabelle gave him her classic disapproving look that was a cross between "Where have you been?" and "What in Escarot have you been doing?" Before he could open his mouth to respond to the look, his father swept into the room, followed by his larcena—young, blind, counselor; someone wise in matters of state—Carstairs. As Robert—his father—quickly headed towards his seat on the dais, Carstairs whispered, "Duke Robert, the boy must know now, before the Arken hornist comes; he should have time to say goodbye." Robert, his eyes bloodshot, looked at Carstairs warily; then, addressing his family, told them that the Arken hornist was probably arriving to announce the death of the heir. Earlier, the heir, Prince Sebastian had suffered a terrible fall from his horse; since the fall failed to gain consciousness. The Council of Nobles, commonly called the Clave, had met in secret to decide who the next heir was, since Prince Sebastian had no living heirs, and Queen Charlotte was the last of her line.

The doors burst open, and the Arken hornist entered the chamber. Breathless and tired, he bowed deeply to the Duke and his family, then quickly addressed the room:

"His Highness Prince Sebastian passed on this the Night of Clemency. His death has been a great loss to Her Majesty the Queen Charlotte, and her beloved realm of Idris. As per the Basic Law of Idris, the Council of Nobles has met and decided upon a new heir to the throne." Then, looking directly at Alec, "It is with great pleasure that I pronounce, Alexander Gideon Lightwood, son of Robert Lightwood, Duke of Quaf, the new Crown Prince of Idris."

There was nothing but silence in the chamber.


	3. Chapter 2

**Pandemonium: Chapter 2**

_All characters depicted herein belong to Ms. Cassandra Clare. This is purely a work of fiction; all resemblances to other characters not of Ms. Clare's imagination are completely coincidental. I thank you for taking the time to read this; furthermore, I thank any of you who choose to review my work. Enjoy!_

Isabelle's jaw hung open, staring intently at Alec. He gave her a quick glance, informing her that he was-until that point-blissfuly unaware of his selection. He quickly turned to look at his father, who failed to meet his eye. Alec knew immediately what that meant: his father had known since the Council meeting weeks ago, but failed to tell him. That's what Carstairs was talking about on the way in; that's what he meant by "the boy must know."

It was the larcena who then spoke. "The boy must head to Alicante now, yes hornist?" he asked.

"Yes, Larcena, he must come with me immediately. Is he packed?", replied the hornist.

Then, to everyone's surprise it was the Duchess Maryse who spoke. "No. He will head to his chamber and pack his things now. Carstairs, inform the servants that this is to be done with all haste.", she whispered quietly with her head down.

Out of nowhere, two servants started pushing him back up the stairs to his rooms, all the time referring to him as "Your Highness." Utterly confused, Alec went through the motions of packing his items and preparing to go to Alicante. As soon as he was done packing, he was ushered quickly down to the main reception room where his parents stood separated in the corner, looking at each other with mutual hatred in their eyes; Isabelle still stood in her original position; her mouth was still open in utter surprise.

The hornist bowed to Alec and said, "Your Highness, it is imperative that we leave forthwith. Come, your horse has been saddled and your bags will follow behind. Her Majesty is expecting you."

Before leaving the room, the castle, and his life forever, he took one last look at his family: his mother looked at him with tears beginning to form in her eyes; his father still neglected to make eye contact, as if he was ashamed; his sister had the look of realization upon her, and knowing that he would be leaving soon, she burst into tears and embraced him quickly. She was quietly pulled off him by Carstairs, who patted him on his shoulder and wished him the best of luck.

Without much thought, Alec was whisked on to his horse; then he found himself galloping away to Alicante, the City of Glass.

It was during that ride that..._ahem_

* * *

_ I immediately noticed that the Professor had put his pen down, and was staring at me intently. I gave him my best look of confusion. He nodded briefly, and then spoke: _

_ Friend, this story is interesting, yes, but I think I'm missing many things. Who is this Alexander Gideon Lightwood, I mean really. I need to know more about him, his mind, his body, his soul. Where is this Idris, who lives here, when are we? I'm lost in a pile of details; there is nothing but plot here. The Arc-my patron will not accept something like this. _

_ It took me a moment to get my bearings. This was the most he had ever said to me. I told him I felt like Prince Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin, that is to say I felt like an idiot. He laughed. I promised him I would include some more physical descriptions in the future, but that he would have to be a little more patient for the mental, as Prince Alec was still discovering who he was. _

_ He gave me a satisfied look, and picked up his pen, signifying his willingness to proceed._

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Sorry about switching into the Framing Device realm. It's just something I do for me. **If you're getting bored, don't worry next chapter Alec meets Jace!**


	4. Chapter 3

**Pandemonium: Chapter 4**

_All characters depicted herein belong to Ms. Cassandra Clare. This is purely a work of fiction; all resemblances to other characters not of Ms. Clare's imagination are completely coincidental. I thank you for taking the time to read this; furthermore, I thank any of you who choose to review my work. Enjoy!_

**A brief** **note: **I apologize for the confusion last chapter. I decided that it would be interesting to go back to the framing device from the prologue sometimes, just to make it more realistic. In the future when I do that, I'll introduce it with a break line and change into italics. Thanks again for reading, and please take the time to review!

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The dark forest of Quaf had always been a subject of fear for Alec. It was rumored that deep within the trees lay the creatures of nightmares, none more fearful than the Sycorax. A creature so deadly that no man, save Prospero, has ever defeated it. Unfortunately, the party of guards that accompanied Alec was making a tremendous amount of noise, so naturally he feared waking the Sycorax.

Evidently that fear of his could be seen on his face, for shortly after this realization, the group began to slow and quiet down. As it was doing so, a member of his new Royal Guard approached him. The man-or boy rather-took off his helmet and introduced himself as Jonathan Wayland, though he preferred to go by the name Jace. That last part was lost on Alec, though. He was too busy staring at the guard. The reason for this, was Jace's appearance-the boy was golden. Even in the faint torch light in the dark forest, the boy glistened; his hair and eyes exuded a beautiful gold that radiated a warmth, hitherto unbeknownst to Alec.

Feeling the heat rise up into his cheeks, Alec quickly turned away and galloped far from Jace. Trying his best to ignore his wandering mind and eyes from looking at Jace, he turned his thoughts to the two tasks that would define his future: ruling Idris and giving it more heirs. With thoughts like the ones he just had about Jace, the latter task would be extremely difficult. As such, he banished them from his mind-or so he thought-and proceeded to contemplate the former task and all the difficulties he would find within.

-Two Hours Later-

After nearly falling asleep on his horse, Alec noticed that the forest was getting thinner and the road wider; their retinue was accompanied by a hoard of travelers bringing their goods for sale in Alicante; most importantly of all, the sky began to turn a beautiful fuchsia. It was as these changes were occurring, that the party reached the top of a hill. Immediately there, a light pierced Alec's eyes. The uppermost glass spires of Alicante were refracting the newly ascendant sun.

Alec, however, wasn't looking at the view; he was staring at his guard, the golden boy Jace. In the powerful light of the new dawn, Jace looked nothing short of angelic. His blonde curls gently reflecting the sun's powerful rays; his golden eyes absorbing the light only to make them glow more. Quite inadvertently Alec whispered "you're beautiful."

"What?" Jace quickly asked.

Stammering at the fear of being caught, Alec replied "I-i-it's beautiful!"

"It is, isn't it? This is my favorite time to see Alicante, and my favorite hill too." said Jace.

With a curt nod in Jace's direction, Alec spurred his horse forward to avoid further awkward interactions. Instead he, once again, tried to remove the unseemly thoughts about the boy from his mind, to no avail. It was only in that attempt that he realized what he hadn't thought about all night: his family.

The entire ride, Alec had neglected to consider anything of his family; his father's downcast, averted eyes failing to acknowledge that his son would never return; the tears beginning to well up in his mother's sapphire eyes, knowing that she was about to give up her first child; his sister's look of confusion, wondering what had just happened and what would become of her brother. It was only then that he thought of them, but as with other unseemly thoughts, he quickly removed them from his mind. He was, after all, about to enter Alicante, his home for the remainder of his life. It would behoove him to take a good look around, he thought.

As the party entered the city gates, he saw and heard the bustling confusion. "This" he thought "is the beginning of my new life."

At first the part..._scusi..._

* * *

_I looked up to find a man dressed in the livery of The Archon interrupting the Professor. _

_They had a quick exchange in Italian, where the Professor kept on insisting "no, non posso aiutarvi!" Whatever that meant... _

_After five minutes he finally sent them away, but only then did I realize that the tavern had gotten rather crowded. I quickly told the Professor that the story was not one to be told in a crowded tavern; he quietly nodded and put his materials away. I proceeded to call the serving wench, when the Professor finally spoke to me. "I think it is time I get to know the storyteller as well." he said to me. _

_Giving him my best smile, I told him that he would have to wait till we had our food and ale. He once again only nodded, then carefully looked at the mounted demon head on the wall. _

_"Tonight," he said, "will be interesting indeed."_

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Thanks for going through that! I know it's a bit dry and pedantic at times, but you'll have to bear with me; I'm getting to the juicy stuff. In the next couple of chapter he even gets to meet Magnus! Also I hope you're sufficiently excited to find out more about our narrator and the mysterious Professor next chapter. Till then, adieu!


	5. Chapter 4

**Pandemonium: Chapter 4**

_The characters depicted herein-for the most part-belong to Ms. Cassandra Clare. Some characters that appear briefly belong to other authors. Other characters are "daggers of the mind, proceeding from the heat oppressed brain," that is to say they are creations of mine. I again implore you to please review; I really could use the help. Thanks, and enjoy! _

Some Short Thoughts: Before I begin this chapter, I just want to remind you that a substantial portion of it will be spent in the realm of the framing device. That will be all in italics, as usual. Furthermore, the description of Jace during the sunrise last chapter made me think of this from Act II, Scene 2 Romeo and Juliet: "But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon." Evidently somewhere in my mind Jace is now the equivalent of Juliet, though I don't think he'd appreciate that much.

* * *

_The food arrived rather promptly. I hadn't realized how hungry I was till I began to eat. Then, with much haste I stuffed my face. It was only after devouring half my meal did I realize that the Professor was staring at me with a wide grin on his face. He quickly averted his gaze, and began to stuff his face in a fashion that resembled more beast than man. In fact, he jokingly referred to himself as Gregor Samsa. It took me 5 minutes to realize that he was slyly commenting on how the food tasted. Not that it was surprising; the food was pretty trashy. _

_With only a quarter of my meal left, I took my first swig of ale, and then decided that it was time to start talking. I laid out the rules to the Professor: For every question of his I answered, he had to answer one of my own. He agreed. _

_He began by asking me my name. He told me that it wouldn't appear in the story, and that I would only be called the storyteller. I almost considered lying, but then I quietly whispered "My name is Gabriel Bane." He didn't notice the significance of that, so we moved on to my question. _

_I asked him who he worked for. At first he looked everywhere in the room, but at him. He said it was for security purposes, whatever that meant. Then he leaned in to my ear and faintly said "The Archon." Flabbergasted, I began to stutter and ask him "H-H-H-How? W-W-Why? W-W-When?"_

_All I got from him was a cross look and the exclamation that this was not going to work. He began to get up and move away, when I regained my senses and begged him to stay. I told him that we could do this tomorrow, or another day. _

_We ate the remainder of our meal slowly and silently while the musicians in the tavern played a sordid rendition of "Moon River." As the nightly crowd began to dwindle, the Professor indicated that he wished to continue recording the story. With a nod, I relaxed my chair, and began again..._

* * *

Alec was attacked from all sides with sounds and sights as he entered the city. All over he could see men and women buying and selling things, thieves trying to pickpocket wealth, oblivious nobles, and city guardsmen preparing for Prince Sebastian's funeral. While the main thoroughfares were interesting, it was on the sides that Alec found himself looking. There he found some very peculiar people and objects: a young redheaded man playing his lute so sweetly it caused everyone to shed a tear; a blue police box tucked neatly away in a corner, with an old, crazy haired man in a scarf looking intently at its side.

Despite all the confusion and ruckus of the city, nothing could take away the immensity of the Royal Palace. Unfortunately, he was not given an opportunity to appreciate its grandeur as he was ushered inside. His horse was taken from underneath him; servants pushed him to a room where he was changed into an appropriate dark outfit; he was then pushed unceremoniously into the grandest chamber in the world, and in front of him sitting upon a throne made from the most beautiful crystal ever sat an old wizened woman with the look of utter disgust on her face; she was Charlotte, Queen of Idris.

She immediately began insulting Alec. "Your eyes are too blue; your hair too long and dark; your face too angular. We don't know what these nobles saw in you to think you'd be a good successor to us. Pah! It's a good thing we don't plan on dying anytime soon."

Alec was taken aback. He didn't expect this kind of assault from the Queen, at least not this early. He did the only thing he thought he could; he bowed deeply, and said "Your Majesty, I apologize for my grievous deficiencies, and offer my humble condolences on the loss of your cousin, the Prince Sebastian."

The old hag rolled here eyes. "Yes, yes" she droned, "we must prepare for the announcement shortly. Get up and get ready. We have to pretend to like you, so look less like a scrawny rag-doll, and perhaps it will be more bearable for us."

With that he was dismissed and sent out the way he came in. Upon exiting, he was attacked by a barrage of servants, all of whom were asking him so many questions, that they just seemed to chitter on like birds. That was until Jace came in. Immediately all the servants backed away.

Casually, Jace asked him, "So how's the old bitch?"

Startled by his irreverence, Alec barely could make out a response; he quietly mumbled "terrible."

"Well, for what it's worth," Jace quickly added, "she was wrong about whatever she said to you. Come let me show you to your rooms."

Nodding vigorously, Alec fell in step behind Jace and headed up to his rooms. He knew he was supposed to be looking around the palace, his new home, but he found that his eyes had something else to stare at: Jace's very round, very firm ass. The moment Alec consciously realized where his gaze was, he quickly moved his eyes to the artwork on the walls. Unfortunately for him, the particular piece he deigned to look at was that of a nude angel, a well endowed nude angel.

Trying to get rid of the unseemly thoughts again, Alec looked straight ahead this time, trying to avoid any temptations, but for some reason his mind kept on returning to the thought of cupping that round, firm ass. Luckily he reached his chambers just in time to avoid any more awkward thoughts. Instead he was quickly met by a flock of servants, all of whom worked in tandem to disrobe him and put him in a hot bath.

For the first time since he woke up, Alec was alone. In that moment he realized how truly alone he was in this nearly foreign city. It was that realization that brought tears to his eyes. As he sat silently sobbing in the tub, a figure knocked on the washroom door. After drying his eyes momentarily and covering himself up, he allowed them to enter.

To his dismay it was Jace. Alec quickly turned bright red at the thought of Jace seeing him in such a state of undress; however, Jace paid it no mind. He was only there to tell Alec that a meeting of his newly appointed advisors was being held in 15 minutes, and he was expected to attend.

After Jace exited, the servants returned to quickly dress Alec and send him on his way to the advisory meeting. On his way he was distracted by the thought of seeing Jace in a similar state of undress, as Jace had just seen him, but as he entered the meeting room, his breath was taken away by someone else.

This tall dark man had skin the color of caramel and green eyes like that of a cat, but more than that, more than anything for that matter, he was scintillating. For the moment, all thoughts of Jace had vanished.

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Next Chapter: Alec FINALLY meets Magnus, but can he get Jace out of his head?

Also, please review! It would be extremely helpful!


	6. Chapter 5

**Pandemonium: Chapter 5**_  
Most Characters depicted herein belong to the wonderful Ms. Cassandra Clare. Some characters or objects may refer to the works of other authors; this is done intentionally, but is just really brief because I like allusions. There are also some characters created completely from the deep recesses of my mind; don't hate them. This story is purely a work of fiction; any resemblance to events past or present is entirely coincidental._

I sincerely apologize for the slow pace this story is taking. I'm going to try to work on speeding some of it up today and publishing a few chapters. If you feel like motivating me to publish more, you might want to write a brief review. Something tells me that I can be trained like a Pavlov dog to publish more with more reviews, but then again I might just be insane.

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The scintillating man was stunning; he was tremendously tall, with raven hair, caramel colored skin, and the most interesting eyes in the world. Alec stopped in the doorway, unable to continue moving with the thought of the man. He looked so young too. How could he be any older than Alec, who was 18. The man seemed his age, yet he was an advisor.

While going over these thoughts in his mind, Alec was approached by a boy his age with silver hair; at first, in his distracted state, Alec didn't recognize him, but then he realized that it was his father's Larcena, Carstairs. Alec smiled broadly and asked, "Carstairs, what are you doing here?"

Carstairs, quickly embraced Alec and told him, "Your father sent me here to be your Larcena, since you need one now; he and I thought it best that you had a familiar face around while you adjust yourself. Let me introduce you to the rest of the council. This man here," Carstairs pointed to a boy with curly brown hair and brown eyes, "is Simon Lewis; he is well versed in dealing with nobles. You already know me, and that man over there," Carstairs pointed to the beautiful advisor who Alec had just been gaping at, "is Magnus Bane; he is one of the city's top citizens, and will show you around to help you get a hang of things here."

Alec hadn't heard the last part. His mind had wandered to Magnus' name, whispering it over and over again, quietly rolling it in his mouth, and wondering just how it would sound in the heat of passion.

He only then realized that everyone was staring at him intently. Unsure of what to do, he walked up to the Lewis boy, and shook his hand; then, he walked over to Magnus; he was immediately struck by the scent of sandalwood, that was so tantalizing. When he shook his hand, he felt how soft and smooth they were. Magnus flashed him a smile that displayed his brilliantly white teeth, and quietly intoned, "Your Highness," with a quick bow of the head. His voice was luscious.

"Call me Alec," Alec quickly said. Magnus looked at him with shock and awe; it wasn't proper for an advisor to address his liege by his first name, but then he quickly recovered, smiled, and said "Of course, Alec."

Alec nearly shuddered hearing that. The way his name sounded in Magnus' voice was so sensual, Alec could barely control the direction his mind was going. Then, to his ultimate surprise, Magnus told him that they would be going to view the various quarters of the city together. Alec could barely contain himself at the thought of being alone with Magnus. They decided it would be best to leave in an hours time.

Alec quickly returned to his room and began to prepare, unsure of what to expect from Magnus. He wasn't even sure if Magnus had noticed him the way he had, and then of course, there was Jace his golden boy.

By the time he reached the Palace exit, Magnus was already there, but to is confusion, so was Jace. Then it occurred to him: a Prince could not leave the palace unaccompanied by a guard. It was a strange thought, that the two men who took the most space in his mind would be engaged in a conversation in front of him. It occurred to him that he would not be spending much time looking at the city today, he had other sights that were much more interesting.

The two boys noticed him standing there, staring at them. They quickly turned and bowed. Magnus began to speak, explaining to Alec that Alicante was divided into 6 different sections: The City of Glass in the center, where they were now, The City of Bones directly to the south, The City of Ashes immediately to the latter's west, The City of Fallen Angels immediately to the last quarter's north, The City of Lost Souls immediately to the previous' east, and The City of Heavenly Fire immediately to the prior one's south, connecting to the City of Bones on the other side.

Alec didn't catch a word of that. He was too busy staring at Magnus' mouth, the way his lips curved ever so slightly upwards, the shape they formed when he made vowels, and the adorable way his tongue occasionally clicked with his teeth.

Magnus failed to notice that Alec wasn't listening to a word he said. He silently proceeded out the exit and was followed by Jace. It was only then that Alec noticed how tight Magnus' pants were, and how well formed his ass was too. As he exited the Palace for his escapades in the city, he was found himself comparing the boy's asses; Magnus had a rounder, fuller shape, but Jace looked very firm.

Alec realized that they had already exited the Palace grounds and were in the City of Glass; he needed to concentrate, so he looked outside and focused on the beauty of the city, bustling with people going about their daily routines. It took all his self-control to not stare at either of the boys in front of him, the one who glowed like the sun and the one who scintillated like a star.


	7. Chapter 6

**Pandemonium: Chapter 6**_  
The main characters depicted herein are the sole property of Ms. Cassandra Clare; some minor characters or randomly appearing individuals belong to other authors whose work I have decided to allude to for fun; other characters that you may have never heard of before are creations of my imagination. This is entirely a work of fiction; any resemblances to events or people, past or present is purely coincidental. __**I would really appreciate it if you wrote some reviews! **__Thanks, and enjoy!_

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The tour was lengthy and boring; Alec had paid attention to the best of his abilities, but it had been rather difficult with the two very good looking boys near him the entire time. It seemed that his ability to banish these horrid thoughts from his mind was not working. The only city that really interested him was the City of Lost Souls.

The streets there were filled with thousands of peculiar people, each wandering aimlessly calling out names or saying random things that could not be discerned: A raggedy man in a bow tie, asking for a Pond; A beautiful, elfin woman in a slim sheer black dress and sunglasses, trying to find a man named Fred; A man named Mersault, untouched by the death of his mother; A woman with insanity in her eyes, rubbing her hands together to get rid of a spot.

Alec was thankful he saw those people, those lost souls. Otherwise he himself would have become a lost soul here, worriedly calling the names of the two boys he couldn't help but feel a sudden attraction to.

By the time everyone returned to the palace, it was dark and Alec found himself extremely tired. After a brief, solitary meal he made his way to his rooms where he slept deeply for the remainder of the night.

-The Next Morning-

That morning, Alec was shaken awake by a figure that looked as bright as the sun. As it turns out, the figure was glowing; it was Jace. He was tersely informed that he had a number of meetings today, and that he must pay strict attention to them. The first meeting was with the very important Baron von Morgenstern, and his daughter the beautiful Clarissa.

Alec quickly made his way towards the meeting chambers, and was thankfully intercepted by Simon, who told him to be kind and courteous towards the Baron Valentine, and to be especially careful around him; he wanted the throne.

As he arrived in the chamber where the Baron Valentine and his daughter were seated, he was taken aback at how different they looked. The Baron had hair white as snow and eyes as dark as coal. His daughter was somewhat beautiful-or so he guessed, after all, he was terrible a judging women-with her red locks and deep green eyes. As soon as he walked in, Valentine's smile turned into a sneer of disgust. They barely exchanged pleasantries before Valentine started telling him some frightening things: the Noble Council needed to be addressed, new policies needed to be created, and the arrangements for the ascension ball needed to be made. It all was too overwhelming for Alec, who was barely used to his home.

Then came the strangest part: Valentine, started laughing; he whispered something to his daughter, who looked at him with her mouth turned down; Valentine then proclaimed that his daughter Clarissa would be staying in the Palace for the next few weeks to help Alec with whatever he needed. In his words she was there to "attend to his needs."

Alec understood the tone in that statement and was disgusted by the thought, but thanked Valentine anyway. The Baron gave him one last cold look before sweeping out of the room, stating some feigned excuse.

For a few moments there was a terribly awkward silence. Before him sat the girl, Clarissa. She stared at him intently, then after a long pause she spoke: "You know, you're not half as bad looking as I thought you were going to be. In fact, you might even be good looking. There's something dark and mysterious about you with the way your face is so angular and your eyes such a deep blue, which compliment that black hair of yours very well."

Alec was stunned; nobody had ever said these things about him; he stammered, "T-t-hank you, Clarissa."

"Call me Clary" she quickly told him.

He didn't say anything; the room was about to fall into another awkward silence, when Jace barged into the room. He was about to address Alec when he caught Clary's eyes. Jace just stood there, jaw open for a moment; Clary sat there as well, with a look of confusion on her face, unsure of what to do or say.

"Ahem," Alec interrupted, "I think you ought to take our guest to her chambers, Jace."

Jace nodded and moved out of the room; Clary followed in suit, barely acknowledging Alec as she left the room.

Alec felt something strange going on between the two of them, but did his best to ignore that. Instead his mind turned to his next meeting; he would be discussing affairs with Magnus Bane. His mind began to wonder to what might be. Then, he was stopped mid thought by a sharp knock on the door.

With his heart hammering in his chest, Alec said "Come in..."

* * *

A brief note: Thanks for reading this far! I hope it's been getting more interesting, I know it was a slow start. Within the next few chapters there will be a Malec kiss and maybe a Clace kiss. We also get to see bitchy Queen Charlotte again! Then, I go on a brief hiatus for a week or so; I'll be bringing the Framing Device back for that!


	8. Chapter 7

**Pandemonium: Chapter 7**_  
The same spiel as before: none of the characters belong to me, blah blah blah. You get the point. Credits to Cassandra Clare. _  
It would be really really really really really really (did I mention really?) awesome if someone reviewed. I know it's a tedious task and what not but PLEASE.

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The door swung open and in walked-no sauntered-in sauntered Magnus. He casually slid into the seat opposite Alec with the litheness of a cat. He seemed to be sparkling even more, and the green of his eyes popped out like emeralds in a field of caramel. At the same time Alec was hit with the scent of sandalwood; it was sensory overload. It was like Magnus was trying to make his mind explode or something.

This time, it turned out that Magnus knew Alec was staring; "it's called glitter by the way," he casually mentioned, "the sparkly stuff everywhere, yeah glitter."

Alec was immediately caught off guard; he hadn't expected Magnus to notice him staring, or worse say anything about it. He quickly improvised and said, "It looks good on you, makes your eyes pop." He gave Magnus a sheepish grin.

Smiling, Magnus told him, "we should try some on you; I think it would go extremely well with those pretty blue eyes of yours."

Alec was taken aback. He hadn't expected Magnus to be so forward with him. "What did this mean?" he thought. "Was Magnus attracted to him too?" Alec must have been staring again when he was contemplating these thoughts, because Magnus took the liberty of pointing it out.

"You know Alec, you spend a lot of time staring at people. It's a little awkward, but very cute." Then, to his complete surprise, Magnus winked at him.

Alec pinched himself. "I must be dreaming" he thought.

Unsure of what to do next, he asked Magnus what he had come here to talk about originally. Magnus sighed, and with a disappointed look in his eyes, started talking about planning his ascension ball and other important meeting he would have. Even with Magnus' luscious voice, the topic was such a bore that Alec started wondering what it would feel like to be covered in that glitter stuff.

Thankfully, Magnus didn't notice him space out this time, and left soon after he finished talking, claiming he had some other things to do.

At that point, Alec realized how hungry he was, and how long the day had gone; hoping for some brief respite from his arduous schedule, he peeked his head out the doorway, and was immediately met by Carstairs, who promptly told him that the Queen was expecting him.

"Not that again," he thought angrily. The distasteful woman was probably going to spend the next few minutes insulting him and making his life her particular brand of miserable. Regardless, a dutiful Alec plastered a smile on his face, straightened out his clothes, and proceeded to enter the throne room.

The Queen seemed deeply engrossed in a conversation with the Baron von Morgenstern. They were whispering quietly to each other, saying things that Alec could hardly comprehend. At some point Queen Charlotte intoned about the "blue-eyed, bodacious, bitch" joining the royal retinue soon. She even took the time to call some woman a prostitute. The Baron von Morgenstern was about to reply when he realized that Alec was standing there; unwilling to continue the conversation, he gave the Queen a wry smile and told her "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse, otherwise, he'll be sleeping with the fishes!"

With that he quickly left the room, leaving Alec all alone with the Queen, who gave him a broad smile, displaying her decaying teeth. She started to laugh in a way that resembled a cough, then she loudly proclaimed, "'Ere you are, you fuckin' bastard!"

Alec was taken by surprise. He hadn't expected the Queen to take on a cockney accent for today's round of insults, but with the Queen it was best to expect the unexpected. In response, he mumbled, "Yes Your Majesty."

She did that awkward cough/laugh again. Then she said to no one, "Innit nice when them young ones 'ave a little respect." Then, motioning to Alec she said, "Come on, come closer to your old Queen, let me 'ave a good look at ya."

With little choice, Alec approached the throne until he was close enough to smell the mothballs in her clothes. He crinkled his nose in disgust.

"Oy!", the Queen shouted "what you doin' 'at for!? Not like you smell so nice, you fuckin' bastard. You smell like that fuckin' Pikey, Bane. So special with his fuckin' sandalwood, thinkin' he's so nice. Let me tell you somethin' boy, I don't care if I smell like shit; I ain't even bovvered!"

Extremely baffled, Alec simply bowed further, and mumbled some poor attempt at an apology. He had never faced a more strange or awkward interaction in his life.

Then the Queen decided that she had enough of him, and angrily told him, "Get your arse out of my room. Go fuck around with the Pikey, for all I care. I've 'ad enough of your lot for the day. Beat it boy!"

Entirely unsure of what just happened, Alec quickly departed the room and found his way back to his chambers. He was quickly informed that he had a visitor, a lady. When he asked who she was, the servants had no idea. He asked them to prepare lunch for two just in case. As he walked into the antechamber he noticed a woman with long black hair tied in a bun. "Could that be...no it's no possible" he thought quickly.

Upon hearing his entrance to the room, the girl turned around and embraced him tightly; it turned out that Alec was right.

It was his sister, Isabelle.

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Guess whose back. Back again. Izzy's back. Tell a friend. Guess whose back, guess whose back, guess whose back (starts awkwardly rapping?) Well she's here so prepare for some lovely interactions between Alec and Izzy, Izzy and Magnus, and there will be some Sizzy! If you enjoyed that lovely part with the batty old Queen, please **leave a review!** Thanks!


	9. Chapter 8

**Pandemonium: Chapter 8**

_The main characters depicted herein are the sole property of one Ms. Cassandra Clare; however, some of the minor characters belong to other authors; furthermore, some characters are complete creations of my own imagination. Regardless, this is purely a work of fiction; any resemblance of characters or events from the past or the present (or the future if you're a Time Lord) is entirely coincidental. _

**A side note about the last chapter:** As I was rereading it a little while ago, I realized two interesting things: 1) The Queen with all her cockney old lady-ness resembled Old Nan from _The Catherine Tate Show_. 2) Valentine's two lines are pretty much exact replicas from _The Godfather_; I guess that now makes him Don Valentine Corleone. For some reason, I think that suits him better than Baron von Morgenstern. Let me know in reviews!

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"Izzy!?" Alec shouted with surprise, "Is that really you? How are you here? When did you get here? What's going on?"

"Oh Alec would you shut up for a minute and hug me?" She asked incredulously.

They embraced for a few more moments, then Alec told her "The servants will be bringing lunch for two, sit down."

As soon as they sat down, Alec attacked her with the questions again. Izzy rolled her blue eyes, and said "Will you just calm down for a minute? Listen, because I'm about to tell you: When you left, mom started crying and dad did absolutely nothing, so while I was there consoling her, dad told Carstairs to go to you and become your Larcena here. Then he stormed back to his room pretty angrily. Mom kept on crying for a few hours, and then dad came back down. He told her he was sorry but she had none of it. She yelled at him for lying to us all and not even letting him say goodbye. Then he told her the worst news: they were going to send me to Soren with Aunt Imogen for the next year to get my education as a 'proper lady.' You know how I despise Aunt Imogen, so I got on a horse last night when everyone was sleeping and came here!"

Alec gave her a dumbfounded look, and then said "So you ran away from home?" Then he began to chide her, telling her "Did you even consider to think of our parents, our mother? How is she going to react to think that one child was dragged away to Alicante, and the other just ran away!? You have to go back. You have to go back now. I'm getting Carstairs and he's going to send you back now."

"NO!" Izzy shouted. I'm not going back there! I'm never going back there. I'll stay here with you. I can get some exposure to the palace and life as the future-King's sister, and you can have someone here to take care of you, because Angel knows you cant do it yourself."

Alec rolled his eyes, and muttered something furiously under his breath that sounded like "you always get what you want." Then, with a resigned look in his eyes, he said "Fine, you can stay, but make sure you keep away from that wretched old Queen and the slithering Baron von Morgenstern."

Izzy jumped with joy and embraced Alec again, though this time he was devoid of the same excitement. Instead he grudgingly decided to check on the food, which to his misfortune came rather soon. Then, Izzy started to blather on about her various escapades, and before he knew it, Alec was laughing with her; he never could stay mad at her for long.

To his surprise, Izzy stopped and then asked, "So what about you? How's life in the Palace?"

He told her the truth, "I spend most of my time surrounded by my advisers and/or my guards." He told her about the day's earlier interactions, including the meeting with the Queen, to which she laughed immensely. "What's so funny about that?" he asked rather dryly.

"I think the blue-eyed, bodacious, bitch they were talking about was me." she told him joyously. She then proceeded to explain how she entered the palace, and how she was seen by the Baron von Morgenstern, sneaking past the guards.

Alec pouted, and thought about how to deal with him next, when Izzy asked him about his advisers. Alec spoke rather tersely about Simon, who Izzy displayed some odd interest in, and then went on about Magnus, even to the point of explaining his scent.

Izzy stared at Alec with wide eyes. Then, nearly whispering she asked, "Are you attracted to him?" Alec turned a frightful shade of magenta and began denying it profusely, he even went so far to deride individuals with that particular predisposition. Izzy scoffed. She looked at him directly and told him, "I saw the way you used to look at the stable boys; I even saw you kiss the cute one, so don't even think about lying to me."

Alec became pale and silent. He was at a loss for words. Izzy then continued, "It's perfectly normal you know, and if you're attracted to him, then it's all the better! Anyways I'm dying to meet him, is there anyone else I should know about?"

Sheepishly, Alec told her all about Jace. By the time he was done, Izzy was beaming with delight. "I just have to meet these two!" she exclaimed. Alec decided that it would probably be best to visit Jace first; he was probably just about done moving the Clarissa-Clary girl in.

They both walked there way down to Clary's new rooms, Izzy bouncing down the steps happily, Alec strolling in measured steps. When they got to the door, it was slightly ajar, so they opened it up. Immediately both of their jaws dropped.

In front of them Jace and Clary were kissing rather passionately. It as evidenced by their closed eyes, locked lips, and wayward hands, cupping each other's faces as if the other would melt away if they ever stopped.

Alec monotonously whispered, "oh."

Immediately Jace's eyes opened, and he pulled back from the kiss. When he realized that it was Alec who caught them, he turned a bright shade of pink; this was nothing compared to Clary, whose face became the color of her hair.

Alec then spoke quietly, his eyes downcast, his feet repetitively making tiny motions on the floor. He said, "I was just going to introduce my sister, Isabelle, but I guess you're-uh-busy. We can come back later."

Then he and Izzy quietly made their way out of the room while. All the while, Alec was shaking and thinking "How could I be so stupid to even imagine for a minute that Jace was...like me?"

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Well there you have it! Alec is out to his sister, and we have our first kiss scene. I kind of feel really bad for Alec in this chapter, first he has to deal with his awkward situation and then he finds out that one of his two infatuations is straight. But don't worry there will be some Malec kisses coming up pretty soon! And then the lemons get crazy (like Liz Lemon crazy). I'd love to hear your reviews, especially on how to improve the lemon stuff! Thanks!


	10. Chapter 9

**Pandemonium: Chapter 9** _  
The main characters depicted herein belong to Cassandra Clare; additionally, you may find some characters that share a resemblance to characters from other works of fiction that you have read-that resemblance was done purposefully, and those characters are the property of their creators; finally, you will find some characters that you have never heard of nor do you believe exist in any other work of fiction-this is because those characters belong to me, and are creations from my own imagination. As a reminder, this is a work of fiction; if there is any resemblance to works or events that are real in the past, present, or future, then it is completely, utterly, and purely coincidental.  
_A side note about this chapter: This was extremely difficult to write because of everything that I needed to put in here. There are a lot of emotions that needed to be conveyed, and some of them may not have come out. At some points it may become dry or over saturated with dialogue. For that, I apologize in advance. The real purpose of this chapter is to set everything up for the chapter that follows it.

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Upon arriving into the antechamber, Alec quickly slumped onto the couch and closed his eyes. Over and over again in his head he asked himself the same question: "How could I be so stupid?" At some point, he asked himself the question out loud, because Izzy replied, "You're not that stupid; you had no way of knowing."

Alec took a moment to lift up his sunken head. His eyes seemed red, on the verge of tears; then he looked at Izzy with a stare that told her "Fuck off" and "Please help me" all at the same time. Unsurprisingly, Izzy only seemed to get the latter message and put her arms around her brother. He let out a little whimper that signified the beginning of a good cry, when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. The door opened with and in walked Simon, who entirely failed to notice Alec and was completely smitten by the sight of Isabelle, to whom he directed a deep and thorough bow. Izzy, of course, couldn't have cared less about the boy who just walked in the room; instead, she gave him her best dagger eyes stare for rudely interrupting their sibling moment. To add to his stupidity, Simon asked the question, "Is Alec alright?"

Izzy took a moment to let the fury wash over her, then turned to face the inquirer. For a second her eyes registered that the boy was somewhat good looking, a type of nerd chic, but the fury returned, and she quickly retorted, "My brother is missing his family and his home, since you lot have been SO welcoming and loving."

Simon was taken aback; he hadn't expected such a quick retort from the girl, and nor did he expect such sass. He could barely comprehend the fact that he was being chided because of his immense attraction to the girl. He was unsure of how to proceed, but decided it was best to apologize.

"I, uhm, didn't really realize that he was, uhm, missing home that much, and uh, I'm sorry. I'll try to be uh, more, attentive next time?"

The last line came out so weakly, that Izzy's stare increased exponentially. Entirely unsure of what to do Simon quickly said, "Uh, I guess I'll, uh cancel his appointments for the day, and tell everyone he's uh, sick? Yeah he's sick. Bad lunch or something."

Izzy rolled her eyes at Simon, and waved for him to leave. He quickly took that as an opportunity to evade the awkward situation, but before doing so, he said "I hope you, uh, feel better, Alec." In response he barely got a nod.

As soon as Simon left, Izzy returned her attention to Alec who was in a more miserable state than before. She wasn't even able to talk before he pushed her away, and went to the wash closet to quickly wash his face. It took all his courage and will to stop whimpering and go back to looking like a quasi-self assured Prince.

He went back to the couch where a surprisingly chipper Izzy began to tell him that there were many more fish in the sea, and that he should try the Magnus boy instead, since he held so much more promise. Alec tried at first to give her another glare that told her to stop talking about that, but in the end he couldn't help laugh at the thought of him and Magnus as fish. Of course Izzy, with her tremendous sense of humor, had to point out that they would be _swordfish_. Alec turned bright red, but then started laughing uncontrollably; that was Izzy for you, sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, all around crazy, and all around his beloved little sister.

Their little family bonding time was once again interrupted by a knock on the door, and this time entered a very ashamed looking Clary and Jace. Before either Alec or Izzy could even open their mouthes, they both began to apologize profusely, and promised that it would never happen again. Alec then held up his hand to silence them.

"Listen, we were just caught a little off guard by what we saw. There's nothing wrong with it. If you two like each other, by all means go ahead, you have my permission."

Clary, while visibly relieved, seemed to be holding on to something in her thoughts. Izzy, noticing that, asked her "Is there something else, Clary?"

"Yes," she responded, "could you not tell my father about this? He would be furious if he found out that I was kissing someone, but especially Jace."

Jace immediately got defensive and asked, "What!? Am I not good enough for old Papa Morgenstern? He wouldn't want his daughter kissing a lowly guard would he?"

Clary was taken by surprise by this comment, but then whispered, "Yes, I suppose that's true."

With a fire in his eyes, Jace shouted, "Well Screw Him!" He then grabbed Clary by the hips and kissed her right there.

At first, Clary was taken by surprise at the sudden kiss, but then she overcame her surprise and delved fully into the act, parting her mouth slightly to allow him to let put his tongue in her mouth, something that again, gave her a surprise, but a very pleasant one. It was only then that she noticed Izzy and Alec staring with their jaws hanging down. She quickly pushed Jace away, and started apologizing profusely.

This time, it was Izzy who interrupted, "Don't worry. I don't think Alec plans on telling your father anything of the sort. We'll keep your secret. I'm Isabelle by the way, Alec's sister, though everyone calls me Izzy. I think we're going to be great friends! And I can see why Alec likes you both, even though he barely knows you."

Jace, for once, was dumbfounded. It was Clary, who after taking a second to compose herself, said "Thanks Izzy. We should be-uh-going now. Maybe we can all have dinner together!"

Izzy nodded happily, and guided them out of the antechamber. As soon as they left, Alec stifled a chortle.

With a touch of sarcasm he said, "Well I suppose there's no chance with Jace now."

Izzy, with a smile, asked, "Do I detect a hint of jealousy there?"

"I mean I welcome her into my palace, and then she goes about making out with my golden boy guard, but then again he was never mine, so..." Alec's voice trailed off.

Izzy rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "Whatever!"

Before the two could engage in any actual conversation, they were once again rudely interrupted. This time though, the individual took no time in knocking, and simply barged in asking, "I heard you were homesick, is there anything I can do to help?"

It was Magnus.

Izzy's jaw dropped. She was aware that Magnus was good looking, but she hadn't expected someone so beautiful. Magnus had changed since Alec had last seen him; he was now in a green shirt and beige pants, making his skin and eyes compliment each other beautifully; his hair seemed to scintillate more than usual, as if there was more glitter in them than normal; his eyes were outlined in something black, and with that their emerald beauty seemed to pop out even more, making them both fearsome and gorgeous.

Unable to say anything intelligible, Izzy said, "Alec you're right; he does smell nice!"

Magnus sauntered his way to the chair in front of the siblings, sat down, and turned his mouth into a pout; he then faced Alec and said, "Really? Is that all you could tell her, that I smell _nice_?"

Izzy, by that time, had recovered from her initial surprise, and quickly retorted, "Oh Mr. Bane-Magnus if I may-he has told me plenty of things about you, it just so happens that the one he was most correct about was the fact that you do smell very nice."

Magnus let out a small chortle. "And who might you be?" he asked Izzy.

Izzy put up a broad grin and said, "I'm Isabelle Lightwood-Izzy to most-and I'm this dimwit's little sister", pointing to Alec.

Magnus smiled warmly, took her hand and kissed it, saying "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mademoiselle."

He then quickly turned to Alec and said, "So I heard you were feeling a bit down and homesick. Well let me tell you, the best cure to that is a nice, warm, long hug. Lucky for you, the best hugger in Idris is right here in front of you." With that, Magnus stood up and opened his arms wide.

Alec's jaw dropped. His mind could barely fathom that much physical contact with Magnus. Just being around him was intoxicating. To think of what would happen if he hugged him, if he kissed him, if he...Alec's train of thought was interrupted by the observation of just how muscular Magnus was. His arms, outstretched and wide, were rippling.

"Well?" Magnus asked, rather disappointedly.

Izzy quickly shoved Alec to his feet and lectured him on saying no to a good hug offer.

Unable to deny it much longer, Alec entered Magnus' embrace where his long arms wrapped around him, warmly but firmly.

In that moment, Alec was attacked by his senses: He saw the small beads of sweat form on Magnus' neck from his close proximity and from the nervousness of the embrace. He heard Magnus' breath and heart quicken as he pulled Alec closer and tighter to his chest. He smelled the sandalwood concoction that Magnus reeked of, and it almost intoxicated him. He tasted the combination of strawberry and mint that so delicately graced Magnus' lips, lips that Alec so desperately wanted to claim as his own. He felt the rippling muscles of Magnus' back, and how upon his touch they began to shiver.

His body too was reacting to Magnus' touch. Deep within his loins something had begun to stir as he felt a rush of blood to his nether regions.

Alec quickly removed himself from the embrace before embarrassing himself. He sat down quickly, and averted Magnus' gaze, but thanked him for the hug anyway, telling him that he felt much better.

Magnus gave him a sly smile, and sauntered to the door, giving Alec an excellent view of his full ass. Before exiting, he quickly turned around and gave Alec a wink.

Alec couldn't deny it any more; he had an erection.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying not to draw attention to the tightness in his pants. Izzy looked at him with a small smile, and then said "I think your epidermis is showing."

Alec's hands shot to his crotch and covered them instinctively.

Izzy's eyes widened and mouth curved upwards in triumph. "Ha!" she shouted, "I knew it! I knew you liked him!"

Alec's face began to burn a hot red. He gave his sister a deathly glare, and then ran to his room where he proceeded to slam the door shut.

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Well I hope you enjoyed that even though it was tremendously long. Reminder: next chapter is going to be the last before my week and a half hiatus. I will, though, respond to reviews and PMs. I may also work on editing some earlier chapters. Of course I will always spend time reading other works and reviewing them. Please do me a favor and review! Thanks so much!


	11. Chapter 10

**Pandemonium: Chapter 10**  
_The main characters depicted herein are loosely based on the characters created by Cassandra Clare in her Mortal Instruments series; other characters from other works of literature, television series, movies, and/or songs may appear, they are the sole property of their creators; some characters do not exist elsewhere because they are creations of my own imagination. Regardless of the character's owners, this work you're reading is purely a work of fiction; any resemblance to events past, present, or future is completely and utterly coincidental.  
_I normally hate to bore you with these stupid author's notes, but I have to cover a few things. As I've been mentioning for a while now, I will be going on a brief hiatus for the next week and a half-ish. There are some changes going on that I need to get accustomed to before going back to my writing. Even though I won't be publishing anything, I still will be around to reply to reviews, PMs, and of course read and review other individual's works (both Fanfiction and Published).  
**Final Note:**Things get a little handsy this chapter. If gay lemons are not your thing, I would advise you skim the chapter for the parts that aren't lemon-y. In addition to that, the end moves back to the realm of the framing device, so if you're not interested in that part, do what you must. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please take the time to review!

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Alec furiously paced around his room in circles. With each circle, he delved deeper into self-loathing, asking himself questions like "Why did I go for that stupid hug?" and "Why did I have to cover my crotch? Now Izzy knows everything." Yet which each question, the only thing that was really nagging him was the desire in his pants, and the deep longing for Magnus' touch again.

Even now, Alec could smell the faint residue of sandalwood on his skin. It reminded him of Magnus, and that drove him even more mad, both with frustration and desire. Trying his best to control himself, Alec ran his hands through his hair. Looking down at them, he found that they seemed to sparkle a little; some of Magnus' glitter fell off onto him.

Rather than making him angry, this only made Alec even more desirous; he imagined what it would be like to be covered in Magnus' glitter from head to toe as a result of all their embraces and other touches. Alec let out a soft groan; his erection was going nowhere.

His mind turned to one possible solution to his hard problem...like every boy he had engaged in that activity before, but once, when he was 14, his father had caught him in the act; he had been informed that it was a sinful and shameful thing to do, and that next time his hands would be tied behind his back. Alec never understood why it was sinful and shameful; it had always seemed like a natural, fun thing to do, but his father was his father, and so he resisted temptations whenever they came.

Today though, was different. His father was miles away, and he couldn't resist temptation for the life of him. Every time he moved, his mind turned to Magnus, the way he moved like a panther, the beauty of his scent, the touch of his muscular arms around him; Alec gave up. "There's no point." he thought to himself.

He moved over to his bed, and carefully removed all his clothing. He lay down on the bed, but not before taking a look at himself in the mirror; his angular face showed the anguish of a scorned lover; his abdominal muscles were in there regular shape of six, contracting occasionally and standing more prominent than ever; he then moved his eyes down to his erect penis, where he was greeted by a member so fully engorged with blood he wondered how he would have ever kept it concealed.

As he lay down, his mind turned to Magnus again. He began recalling the smell of sandalwood, and the sight of his emerald eyes. Slowly, Alec's hand reached for his penis, where he made an open fist, and began to gently move it up and down the shaft. His mind started to turn to Magnus' body, and the feel of his tight muscles underneath his shirt, especially the way his back shuddered under Alec's own touch.

Alec's imagination moved forward with Magnus; he thought about the taste of Magnus' lips on his own, and the ferocity with which they would kiss; he imagined kissing Magnus' neck, gently sucking the soft skin; he conceptualized kissing Magnus' often exposed collar bone, gently biting down on the skin to watch Magnus shiver with pleasure. All this was accompanied by Alec's hands, moving up and down his shaft in a rhythm that was slowly accelerating.

He then pictured Magnus devoid of a shirt. The thought of Magnus' bare skin made Alec give a low moan of pleasure. His breathing became ragged as his body strained under the pressure. His hand began to move even faster. His other hand started to gently touch his testes and massage them, providing him with even more pleasure.

Shirtless Magnus in Alec's imagination was covered in muscles that rippled as he moved lithely around. He was-like Alec-also entirely hairless, except for at the bottom of his navel. There stood a soft patch of dark hair heading directly downward.

Alec's hand was beginning to slide with much haste, his desperation for a release evident through his moans and ragged breathing. Alec then tried to remember what Magnus' reaction was to his embrace. Could Magnus have had the same reaction his body did? Was it possible that he too was in such a state?

Unable to help himself, he imagined Magnus stark naked, with his beautiful, long, hard penis sticking out from a tuft of black hair in his groin. He then imagined Magnus lying down on his own bed, in his own chamber, gently touching himself the way he, Alec, was doing so right this moment.

The image of Magnus pleasuring himself was too much.

Like a river breaking a dam, Alec exploded with pleasure. Within fractions of a second, all of his muscles simultaneously contracted, and then relaxed. He let out all of his pent up passion in one long, loud moan, and watched as he began to ejaculate everywhere, covering his entire bedding in his semen.

Alec closed his eyes and relaxed. His heart rate went down, and his breathing returned to normal. He slowly felt the calm collectiveness returning to his mind, now that his body had been sated.

It was only when this collectiveness returned to his mind, did Alec realize what he had just done. Despite his-correct-arguments about it being natural, he began to feel an immense amount of guilt. He quickly found a washcloth and cleaned himself off; he then moved to his bedding, which he slowly did his best to clean, though it was mostly all stained now. Finally, he put his clothes back on, and crawled under the covers. He couldn't leave his room now; it would be too obvious what he had just done. He decided that it was best to only leave in the morning, when hopefully everyone would have forgotten about the day's events.

-The Next Morning-

Alec awoke feeling more refreshed and alive than ever. In fact, he was entirely chipper for the duration of his morning routine, until he saw the stains on his bedding. After recalling what he had done the night before, his foul mood quickly returned. Alec and Izzy had breakfast together in complete silence. He did his best to retain a straight, unreadable face, whilst she blathered on incessantly about her tour of the castle with Simon.

Alec didn't bother listening to her for the most part; instead he tried to focus on the day ahead, especially his daily meeting with Magnus.

When he arrived downstairs, Carstairs was already waiting for him. He was quickly informed of his schedule for the day; it would be packed with meetings, from the Alderman of the various parts of Alicante, to a boorish meeting with the Earl of Lawbka. Then Carstairs said something to unnerve him; he said, "I would be careful of that Clarissa Morgenstern; I wouldn't be surprised if her father sent her hear to spy on you, to find out your weaknesses and use them to dethrone you."

He thanked Carstairs for the information. It was the perfect thing to keep his mind off Magnus for the morning at least.

That was until Magnus walked into the meeting.

Magnus was dressed in brightly colored blues that made his eyes look like the ocean. He seemed to have taken an extra effort this morning to make his hair even more sparkly, and to smell even more strongly of sandalwood. Alec was immediately reminded of the night before and his imagination.

He simply nodded to Magnus, acknowledging his presence in the room; Magnus spoke at length about a number of topics that ranged from crime in the City of Bones to economic distress in the City of Lost Souls. The entire time, Alec only paid attention to Magnus' mouth; the shape they made with each syllable was particularly tantalizing for him.

Eventually, Magnus finished speaking; as he got up to leave, Alec got up too. He didn't really know why he did it, he just felt it was necessary. Then Alec spoke: "About yesterday, I just wanted to thank you. Afterwards, I felt better."

Magnus looked at Alec with a new light in his eyes; he smiled wryly and murmured, "Any time." Then he proceeded to move towards the door. Again, rather uncontrollably, Alec said, "Wait! Don't go."

He reached for Magnus' hand. Upon touching it he felt a jolt of electricity pass through. Carefully studying Magnus' expression, he realized that it was one of hunger, deep hunger.

Before he could realize what was happening, Magnus crossed the space between them and was right above him. He looked down at Alec and said, "You know, blue eyes, you really confuse me. Sometimes I'm not sure what you want..."

Alec barely heard a word of what Magnus had just said. He only knew one thing: he wanted to taste Magnus' lips. Involuntarily he moved his head up and forward, and planted his lips on Magnus'.

Magnus, not normally one to be taken by surprise, was completely shocked. However, he soon recovered, and upon realizing what was happening, he took control of the situation.

He growled deep in his throat, and shoved Alec's body to the wall. He began to slowly part his lips and kiss him with a ferocity heretofore unbeknownst to Alec. Then through the aperture he forced his tongue into Alec's mouth, and gave him a whole new level of pleasure and experience. Alec began to whimper a little, but Magnus couldn't care less. He attacked Alec's mouth as if he would never taste another mouth again in his life before he died. He pushed Alec further against the wall, and then began to move his lips off Alec's and down to his neck. He started to suckle the delicate skin on Alec's neck, growling with a deep seated hunger all the while. He left a number of marks on Alec's neck, claiming him as his own. He then moved down to Alec's gorgeously exposed collarbone. He nibbled a bit at the skin, which caused Alec to start moaning. In order to respond, Alec's hands moved on and grasped the firmness that was Magnus' ass. He fondled the well shaped semi-circles causing Magnus to growl deep in his chest. He pushed himself on to Alec so that he could feel Magnus' large erect member on his own, and he renewed his authority over Alec's mouth, which, with his tongue, he reclaimed as his own.

"WHAT!?" shouted Clary.

* * *

_The Professor stared at the paper for a few minutes, then looked up at me expecting more. _

_I smiled shyly and said, "No more for tonight. It's late, and we have much to cover tomorrow."_

_With a disappointed look, he nodded, and packed up his materials. He swiftly said good night, and then moved up the stairs to his chambers, where he would sleep. _

_I sat at the table for a while longer, then I too made my way upstairs to my room. There I pulled out a sheet of paper and recalled my interactions with the Professor. That's where I am now, still recording my thoughts. _

_It's late. The world around the tavern is surrounded by darkness. It is best to sleep soon, lest I fail to wake up in time tomorrow for the Professor. _

_As soon as I finish writing this, I will blow out the candle and go to my bed to be enveloped by the darkness. _

_The darkness that will surround me, though, is nothing. That is a warm, comforting darkness; it is nothing like the darkness within, a cold uncaring darkness that grows with each passing second. _

_The darkness of a man about to die. _


	12. Chapter 11

**Pandemonium: Chapter 11**  
_The characters mostly belong to Cassandra Clare except for a few that I threw in there myself. Some minor characters appear as allusions to other works of literature; obviously, they belong to their respective creators. _

* * *

**So I'm back! Anyway... during my little hiatus I was reading a number of other Fanfics, and I noticed something really interesting: authors demanding reviews in exchange for the next chapter. At first I thought it was an interesting idea, but then I realized I actually dislike it strongly. I think that this writing is as much for me as it is for you, so one shouldn't be forced to comment on it just to get more. With that in mind though, I have to say that the number of reviews I have gotten is rather disappointing. I don't know exactly what it is, but as a writer, I feel like I'm not connecting with you, my audience.  
So while I'm not going to make you review my work in exchange for the next chapter, I'm just going to beg for a little feedback. Additionally, I want you to know that this "payment scheme" (because that's what it really is) isn't off the table entirely. Not only does it seem really effective, but I also feel like finding out just how inelastic the demand for my product really is. (Economics is a wonderful subject; don't judge me!) **

* * *

_The streaming light filtered through the window; the darkness that had surrounded me, that had enveloped me in its warm, quiet embrace was gone. Yet the darkness within me, the frightening taste of death was deeper, stronger, and more prominent before. Soon it would consume me; soon I would become it, and it would become me. _

_Looking slightly haggard, I made my way down to the tavern room. There at the table from yesterday, sat the Professor, seemingly more alive than ever before. He looked at me with eager eyes, begging me to sit down and renew my telling of the story. As I sat down, a wave of dizziness roared over me. I grasped the chair tightly, paced my breathing, and began. _

* * *

"WHAT!?" Clary asked again, in a startled voice.

Alec turned beet red, and ran out of the room without looking at either of them.

Clary just stared at Magnus for a minute, but then he let out a sheepish smile. Slowly, that little smile turned into a big grin, and that too became a delightful laugh from deep within.

Now Clary was just utterly confused. As such she reiterated the only statement that came to mind, "What?"

Magnus turned to her and said, "I think I broke out little prince. I believe I'm the first person he's ever kissed, and I wasn't even sure he-uh-went that way. Don't get me wrong though, I'm delighted."

Clary opened her mouth for a second, but this time shut it before exclaiming the only thing in her head. She looked at Magnus and said, "Uh...congratulations I guess?"

Magnus thanked her warmly, but then turned very cold, very quickly. With a dead stare in his eyes and a frighteningly quiet voice he said "Do not speak a word of what you saw to anyone. Not Jace, not Isabelle, not Simon, not Carstairs, not even Alec, and most certainly not to you *beloved* father."

Clary quietly nodded her head, and left the room to be alone with her thoughts.

Magnus decided it was best to pay his little princeling a visit. He quietly climbed up the long spiral flight of stairs up to Alec's chambers, noticing how precarious and dangerous they really were.

He softly knocked on the door.

From within, he heard Alec stop sobbing for a minute to softly, but angrily ask, "What is it? I told everyone to go away!"

"Alexander, it's me." Magnus quietly, but firmly responded.

He didn't wait for a response; the door was unlocked, and he made his way in to the chamber. What he found surprised even him.

Alec was curled up in a ball on the floor. His clothes were entirely crumpled and ruffled, giving him an extremely disheveled look; that said nothing of his hair, which was a complete unruly tousled mess and entirely disorganized. None of that compared to his visage though; it seemed as if every angle in his face was dancing in the soft light of the tears that had streaked them; his eyes were bloodshot, but only so much as to make the blue even more crystalline. Despite his entirely bedraggled look, Alec had never looked more gorgeous to Magnus.

Upon seeing Magnus, Alec's face burned up in shame. He immediately turned away and resumed shaking with tears in his eyes. He believed, to the core of his being, that he was ruined, that we would live the rest of his days in infamy as the prince who kissed a man.

But it wasn't just kissing was it? Alec felt something a bit deeper there, a connection he couldn't understand-didn't want to understand.

His thoughts were interrupted by warm arms surrounding him. He felt a hot breath in his ears, and then Magnus' languid voice spoke in hushed tones, "It's perfectly normal, but she won't tell anyone. We can forget that it ever happened, even though I don't want to. I'm sorry I overstepped my bounds, Alexander, but I do have feelings for you."

_Feelings? For me? Impossible. _Alec nearly laughed aloud at the thought of anyone having feelings for him. He imagined what sort of sick joke Magnus was playing on him. Probably some political scheme of some sort to have him sent back home-not that he would mind that. He wanted to go back to the dark cavernous library of his home; he wanted to find a dark, dank, depressing, hole and a nice book to be with, away from everyone.

Alec realized that Magnus still hadn't let go. He gently pulled Magnus' arms off of him. He picked himself up, and dragged himself to his room. He had some thinking to do.

Alec lay down on his bed. Deep inside, he started to snigger a little bit. Magnus caring about him. "Ha, ha, ha." He thought.

_ Nobody cared about him. Nobody cared about anyone else. It didn't matter anyway. It never mattered. Nothing mattered. He was going to die, and Magnus was going to die, and Jace, and Clary, and everyone. Everyone died. They would be lost to the world after that. Mere marks on the vast painting of history and time. "We are born astride of a grave, the light gleams an instant, then it's night once more." Life is without purpose and not worth living._

The door opened up, and Izzy walked in, looking very confused. "Magnus told me that you needed someone to attend to you..." she said in a questioning tone.

Alec simply groaned in response; he didn't want to tell his sister anything, but inevitably it would come out, so he told her all about this morning, neglecting to mention his thoughts from a moment ago. Those were private thoughts, not meant for the rest of the world to hear.

To Alec's surprise, Izzy started laughing. She then forced Alec to get up and give her a hug.

"I can't believe it!" She exclaimed with glee. "After all this time, you finally found someone, and he is just perfect for you! This is so exciting!"

Alec's jaw dropped. She was happy? This made no sense, he was about to ruin their family, ruin their lives, and she was _happy?_

Izzy must have realized what he was thinking because she immediately said, "Oh don't worry I'm not going to tell anyone, but I will work with Magnus on how to make this discreet; you both have reputations to uphold, and I don't think Clary will be telling anyone. I'd say you're about even with her at this point."

"Make this work? What was going on? Was his sister endorsing this-this thing-this relationship? How could she?! It was so dangerous, for her, for everyone." Alec simply stared at her in confusion. Dumbfounded, he slumped back onto the bed.

Izzy was now bobbing around the room talking about random things, like getting him new clothes, finding secret places in the palace, and creating fake identities. All the while though, Alec was simply too dazed to even listen to what his sister was saying. His mind had turned to Magnus. Someone-not just anyone, the sex god that was Magnus!-had just told him that he liked him!

He swiftly got up, interrupting Izzy mid-sentence, and ran down the stairs, almost tripping and breaking his skull, to Magnus' office.

Magnus was sitting there, with a pile of papers going through them rather lethargically. He slammed the door shut, and shoved the papers off the desk. He planted himself right in front of Magnus, looked him deep in the emerald cat eyes, and planted his lips. A startled Magnus, took a full moment to respond, but then slowly parted his lips to let Alec's tongue find his way into his mouth. Before Magnus had a chance to do anything, Alec was commanding his mouth, even so far as to gently let his tongue slide down the back of Magnus' mouth, which lead to Magnus eliciting a moan so delectable that Alec could do nothing more but moan in response. Magnus found his wayward hands, reaching for the hem of Alec's shirt, but before he could tug upwards as he so deeply desired, Alec pulled away.

It was then that the two of them realized how long they had been holding their breaths. They both panted heavily for a few seconds, looking deeply into each other's eyes.

Then, Alec spoke in a quiet deep voice, "Magnus Bane, I think I may like you in that way too."


	13. Chapter 12

**Pandemonium: Chapter 12**

_As usual, I'd like to take a moment to point out that the majority of the characters depicted herein are the sole property of Cassandra Clare; it is also important to give credit to those authors and creators whose characters I have borrowed for some of the allusions in my story.  
_**I'd like to apologize for part of last chapter. I hope Alec's existential nihilism wasn't too depressing for you. It does serve a purpose for later chapters. Additionally, you might want to know that the quote during the existential nihilism part is from the wonderful Samuel Beckett play ****_Waiting for Godot_****. Finally, I'd once again like to beg for reviews. Enjoy!**

* * *

Magnus began to chortle. Well it started that way at least; within a few seconds, that light chortle became a full throated laugh.

Alec turned pink, covered his face with his hands in shame. "What have I done?" he thought to himself. "I've made a fool of myself, and now I'm even more ruined than I already was."

Magnus abruptly stopped laughing, and said in a low husky voice, "You know blue-eyes, you're incredibly cute looking when you do that. It makes you just oh so irresistible."

Alec's inner voice began to question again. "Me? Irresistible? The only thing about me that is irresistible is the irresistible need to punch me in the face."

Magnus took one long, dainty, well manicured, finger, and pulled his chin up. Then he gave Alec a light, chaste kiss on the lips signifying that Alec was in fact, not dreaming.

Magnus picked Alec up, and gently lowered him on his lap. Alec found that his head fit in perfectly in the crook of Magnus' neck, so he placed it there. For a while, the two of them just sat there, comfortably sitting together, reveling in the newfangled emotions that were coursing through their minds and veins. They hadn't realized they'd been sitting for so long because they were interrupted from their silent thoughts by a knock on the door.

"It's me" Izzy said, "Let me in."

Neither of them were willing to leave from their respective positions. It was simply too comfortable. Magnus was giving Alec a warmth he had never felt before. Nonetheless, the Alec eventually got up, unruffled his clothes, and opened the door.

Izzy flew into the room, and started babbling once more. She kept on talking about discretion, and dates, and dress. To Alec's surprise, Magnus quickly responded to all of Izzy's points, especially the one about dress. Apparently, unbeknownst to Alec, he dressed poorly. Then Magnus said something that gave Alec a big shock.

"If you're going to be my secret boyfriend, my paramour even, then I expect you to dress nicely."

"P-p-p-paramour?" Alec asked as he once again turned a bright shade of pink.

"Well yes, blue-eyes" replied Magnus. "That's what we're going to be, right?"

Alec didn't know what to say. Half an hour ago, he was in his room crying about the fact that Magnus had kissed him, and now here he was about to call Magnus his paramour? For him, it was utter insanity, yet he couldn't resist the temptation to say yes. The thought of having Magnus all to himself, to call him his paramour was too enticing for Alec to let go.

Rather than express himself verbally, he did the only thing he could think of. Alec walked up to Magnus and kissed him on the lips, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he agreed wholeheartedly.

It took him a second to realize that his sister was standing right there, mouth agape.

Alec became scarlet and started mumbling, "I-i-i-i uhh Izzy, I-I-I-uhm..."

Izzy laughed and then said, "Oh shut up, you! I thought that was adorable. You two are the cutest things ever, even if you cant dress yourself."

Alec let out a nervous smile, but at the same time rolled his eyes at Izzy.

Then the door blasted open, with Jace storming in, dagger blazing, and eyes staring daggers straight at Magnus.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?" He demanded accusingly of Magnus.

Magnus, calmly and rather cooly said, "Hey goldie locks, try to not use ambiguous pronouns. Who are you talking about?"

Jace looked at Magnus with rage and contrition. Nobody had ever called him something so childish before, and then insulted his grammar on top of that. He stammered in rage, "C-c-c-c-clary! She says she won't see me today, and to ask you why!"

Magnus chuckled, and gave a knowing glance at Alec. Then with a grin he said, "She just needs a moment to breathe. It's been a hectic two days for her, especially after yesterday."

Jace glared at Magnus, unconvinced, and still pointing the dagger at him.

"You know," chimed in Izzy "I could talk to her. After all, she may need some womanly conversation, and I don't think batty old Queen Charlotte would be any help."

With that, Jace lowered his dagger, and mutedly agreed that Izzy was probably right. Then he swiftly turned to Alec and said, "So why are you here anyway?"

Alec's cheeks flushed immediately. He hadn't expected Jace to notice him here, or worse ask the question. He quickly said, "Magnus and I had some-uh-business to attend to."

Jace relaxed, and Alec relaxed with him. Jace simply nodded, glared at Magnus, and then left the room.

Izzy quickly said, "Well I have to have some girl talk time with Clary, so I guess I'll just leave you two to your 'business.'"

As she walked out of the room, she gave Alec a small wink, which only made him turn a deeper shade of red, bordering magenta even at this point.

Magnus then quickly grabbed Alec by the waist and pulled him closer. He immediately planted his lips on Alec's. He meant business.

They kissed with the ferocity of two lovers who had been separated by leagues; the passion between them was so high and tense, that they barely took the time to pull back and breathe. At first it was a contest of whose tongue would claim the other's mouth, but soon it became clear that Magnus had the upper hand. He devoured every part of Alec, taking in his scent, feeling Alec's hands shake around his back, and even hearing the sound of Alec moan softly from the masterful movements his tongue was making in his mouth. Slowly, Magnus put his hands to Alec's shirt, and started to lift it up from the hem, giving him just the slightest glimpse of Alec's moon pale skin and the strong defined angles that made his muscular stomach.

Then Alec pulled back, started panting, and looked away from Magnus. He spoke softly and said, "I-I-I-I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

Magnus embraced him tightly, letting Alec take in all of him, from his well defined muscles to his extremely pungent scent of sandalwood.

"Whatever you want darling, I'm yours entirely, you tell me what you want, and it's yours."

For some reason, Alec's face turned another shade of red. Then he quietly said, "I have to go. I can't be the master of my domain for much longer."

Magnus frowned a little. But then he immediately cheered up, and said "I'll be thinking of you. Especially when I go to my bedroom." The last part was accompanied by a wink.

Alec seemed so flustered at this point, that the only thing he could think of doing, was running out the door, which he promptly did, but not before looking at Magnus, who blew him a kiss.

Magnus sat back at his table, and tried to pick the papers back up again. He even tried to go back to work, but it was to no avail. His mind wouldn't stop wandering from Alec. No, not Alec, Alec was the prince he served; Alexander, that was the boy he kissed; that was the boy who was his paramour; that was the boy, though he wasn't aware of it then, who would drive him mad with love, an emotion he thought he would never feel again.

It was then that Magnus too realized that he could no longer be the master of his domain. Ever since Alec had walked into his office and kissed him, he had been raging with desire. It was incredibly difficult to control himself; the worst was when Alec was sitting on his lap. At that point, he was shifting ever so slightly, so that Alec wouldn't notice that he was sitting on something a little too hard to be Magnus' leg.

Magnus quickly walked out of his office, and nearly ran out of the palace. His house was a ways away in The City of Fallen Angels. "There's irony to that," Magnus thought, "I'm madly infatuated with a fallen angel."

Magnus burst into his house, and shoved open his door.

He didn't even bother removing his clothes fully, instead he quickly landed on his bed and set his erection free. Unable to control himself anymore, Magnus set to vigorously thrusting his hand back and forth, each moment imagining different visions of Alexander, his beautiful blue eyes, the way he blushed at almost anything, the softness of his voice, the unsure way in which he carried himself, the cute way he looked at boys' asses when he thought nobody was looking, his own beautiful round, firm ass, his dark, anguished angular face, the delicate taste of his lips, the way he moaned ever so softly during a deep kiss.

Before Magnus could even realize how far things had gotten, he was moaning loudly, calling out Alexander's name, and pumping furiously. His imagination turned to Alexander right that moment, who, for all Magnus could tell, was engaging in the same exact action, who was-hopefully-thinking of him in the same way.

This thought drove Magnus over the edge, and like a river cascading over a cliff to the bottom of a lake, Magnus let out a loud ragged moan and watched as he released himself everywhere. He found his penis pulsating in his hand, ejecting semen in a way that he had never felt before. His clothes were ruined, covered in stains, but he didn't care.

The only thing he cared about was Alexander.

-Somewhat Concurrently-

Alec ran into his antechamber, where he found his sister standing over the couch, looking at different outfits.

Izzy turned when he entered and lifted up a skinny, sheer black dress, and asked, "Do you think this will look good for your ball?"

Alec was too hot and bothered to answer.

Then Izzy walked up to his shoulder and rubbed something off of him. She showed him her hand; it was covered in glitter. Izzy started laughing. She jubilantly said, "You're covered in the stuff! It's adorable, and you even smell a little like him too!"

Upon hearing this, Alec quickly ran to the bathroom and drew himself a bath. There was no way he could go to the rest of his meetings looking and smelling of Magnus. It was too obvious. Despite that Alec still secretly harbored feelings of elation. He loved the idea of smelling like Magnus, of having some of his glitter on him. It made them closer, even if they were so far away.

Alec quickly undressed and entered the tub. Unfortunately he couldn't fail to notice that his desire for Magnus was extremely evident. As he sat in the tub, he realized that he couldn't be the master of his domain for much longer, so instead he quickly began to recall the kiss, and rub his hand back and forth. The taste of Magnus' lips on his own; the way that Magnus growled like a panther; the way his eyes bored holes deep into Alec's soul; the delicate, yet strong contours of Magnus' shoulders and back; the way that Magnus could make him so hard from even the slightest touch.

Alec's desire was more urgent than he must have realized because in that instant he released everywhere with a loud moan. He found his penis pulsating in his hand, spewing forth his semen all over the tub and his naked body.

Even after cleaning himself and making sure that he didn't smell of sandalwood, Alec stayed in the tub. The water was warm, like Magnus' embrace.

That was where Alec felt safe. For the first time in his life, he had felt warm and safe, and it was only in one place: Magnus' arms.


	14. Chapter 13

_Main Characters belong to CC; I made up some; others are allusions to the works of other creators who I will thank all together in the end. _

* * *

_"I find that the story is not as tragic as you made it out to be." said the Professor. "I ask that you not waste my time with some sappy romance." _

_I looked at him aghast for a moment. "This" I said slowly "is no sappy romance. The tragedy is coming. The tragedy is always coming. But it is even more tragic when we are happy first. This is also not a story. This is a history. This is real. This is the story of my-" _

_I stopped myself. I cannot tell him yet. I can only tell him when the darkness is about to consume me. Tomorrow night, he will discover the truth. Not today._

_I motion to the paper, and tell him that there is much to be done. We continue. _

* * *

It was cold. It was always cold down there. This was where he belonged-deep, below the earth, away from people. He wasn't worthy of their love, their sight, their acknowledgement. This wasn't his fate alone though. This was the fate of the hundreds like him, all trapped here underneath, in the dark, dank cold.

He was not alone. He was never alone. Even in the darkness, there eyes glowed, judging; wondering what he was doing here; contemplating terrible acts; finding out the deep truths.

He was not alone.

Next to him a pair of green cat eyes sat. They looked lovingly upon him. Sometimes, they would even caress his mind.

He didn't know how long he had been there. Time didn't exist.

One day the green eyes disappeared.

He screamed, begged, and pleaded for their return, but there was no answer. The other eyes just kept on staring. The darkness hushed his voice; the darkness hushed everything.

He was alone. He was going to die.

* * *

Alec awoke with a start, drenched in sweat and panting. "It was just a dream" he told himself "just a nightmare." Even though he knew that it wasn't real, he couldn't get the idea out of his head. The idea that he was going to die, that Magnus was going to die, and that they would be trapped together deep underground in a dark dank place.

Alec could never go back to sleep after an event like that. He immediately rose from his bed, and began the preparations for the day.

Even though it was early, he found that the day was packed and Carstairs was already up with a schedule for him. His day involved a number of annoying meetings with small nobles here and there. Towards the end of the day he noticed three meetings that made his heart quicken: an hour with Clary, an audience with the Queen, and dinner with Magnus.

"Dinner?" He questioned. "This must be Izzy's doing somehow. I wonder what lies she told Cartsairs for that to happen."

As he made his way down to the meetings, Alec was distracted by the prospect of having dinner with Magnus. His thoughts were quite suddenly interrupted when he tripped on his way down the steps. He was barely able to grab on to the railing on the side. He made a mental note to be much more careful on these stairs, they were extremely precarious, and one misstep could lead to a long fall.

After safely reaching the meeting rooms, Alec spent the majority of his day in a daze, barely noticing the things that were said in the various meetings; rather, he was completely distracted by the thoughts of what would happen this evening. He was embarrassed when Simon interrupted him to ask him if he was even paying attention. At the time, he had been thinking of what it would be like to kiss Magnus at dinner.

Unfortunately for him, though, the next person he was meeting with was Clary. He hadn't seen or heard from her since she walked in on them. He did his best to sit firmly in his chair, but the lines of worry took their place on his forehead. This was a conversation he didn't want to have.

"Your Highness, may I sit?" Asked Clary.

"Please" Alec responded "Do not be so formal with me, take a seat."

"I'll only take a minute of your time. I just have to go over a few things."

Alec noticed that this entire time, Clary never once looked directly at him.

She began to ramble on about planning dinners and designing various pieces of art. In there she said something about the ancient rune language of Idris. None of that mattered to Alec. He only wanted to know if she had told anyone. Magnus had assured him that she hadn't, but he had to be sure.

Clary broke off and said, "You're staring at me."

Alec quickly turned red and said, "Oh I'm sorry."

"I didn't tell anyone. I won't tell anyone. You saw what you saw, and I saw what I saw, but I think it might be best if both of us forget what we saw entirely."

Alec stared for a moment; this was more than he could have ever expected. It was the perfect solution.

He gave her a soft smile and said, "I for one have no idea what you're talking about. I haven't seen anything at all."

"But you saw me and- oh, right. You saw nothing. I haven't seen anything either."

With that Clary, flashed him a sheepish grin. They talked a little bit about nothing, and then she left. Unsurprisingly once they were both out of each other's earshot, they breathed a sigh of relief. Neither of their secrets would be coming out.

Alec then moved on to the part of the evening he was dreading the most: an audience with the Queen. He wondered what psychotic accented things she would say.

When he entered she muttered rather loudly, "Late again, the ungrateful bastard. Gave 'im a nice place in my house I did, and he ain't even 'ave the decency to thank me!"

"Thank you, your Majesty."

"'Ere you are, Adam. You look to 'appy for some'un 'ose been here for a few days. I dun like it, not one bit. Them bastard servants not puttin' salt in your porridge yet are they? Soon enough."

"It's Alec, your Majesty."

"Nobody cares, boy. Not while me arse is still on this throne, bloody uncomfortable chair it is. Anyway, you're 'ere because you need to find a bloody wife and get some babes, ugly though they will be. How old are ye? 13?"

Alec's face slackened. He had forgotten entirely about that particular duty. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looked downwards and whispered "I'm 18, majesty."

"18!?" she shouted "Already so old! I'm going to 'ave to find you a wife soon. I think that Morgenstern girl will do well."

Alec's head shot up, and he looked directly at the Queen. "What Morgenstern girl?" He thought to himself "Does she mean Clary!?"

"Hmm yes," the Queen said to no one in particular "the red haired Morgenstern girl will do just fine."

Alec's eyes were nearly popping out of his head at this point. The Queen had said red haired; she meant Clary.

Then the Queen looked directly at him and spoke "What are you still doing here? Don't you have places to be, things to do? Go find the girl, she's to be your wife soon."

All the blood had drained from Alec's face. He silently turned away and walked out of the room. His mind swam with thoughts. Thoughts about how stupid he was; thoughts about how idiotic his fancies about Magnus were; thoughts about how annoying Izzy was for dragging him away from reality; thoughts about how angry Jace would be when he found out that he had to marry her.

Taking more care this time, Alec climbed the steps to his room, forgetting entirely that he had dinner with Magnus. When he opened the door to the antechamber (which had been entirely set up for a romantic dinner for two-the work of Izzy no doubt) he found Magnus sitting there on a chair in a purple shirt that sparkled, bringing out the green in his eyes and a pair of dark black pants so tight that left nearly nothing to the imagination.

For just a moment, his mind was emptied of the thoughts that resulted from the previous conversation.

Magnus got up and started moved towards him swiftly. Alec began recalling his soon to be betrothal to Clary, and tried to move out of the way, but Magnus was too fast. Before he could do anything, Magnus was on him, his arms locking them in an embrace, his eyes pulling Alec deep in the emerald crystals, his lips gently pressing into Alec's.

It was too much. Alec gave in to the kiss, and slowly parted his lips for Magnus' tongue. His unwillingness and inhibitions were gone, soon they were tightly pressed up against one another. Their lips moving in sync as they consumed all they could of each other. From deep within Magnus' throat, Alec heard a growl. It was accompanied by even more ferocity from Magnus.

Alec pulled back, and looked down at his feet as he panted for breath. He couldn't do this. It would only serve to hurt him further.

Magnus gently took his hand and sat him down at the table. He reached over and gently pulled Alec's face up. Then in a soft voice that almost resembled a purr, he asked "What's wrong?"

At the sound and touch of Magnus' gentleness, Alec's eyes started to fill with tears. He sniffled a little, and then looked at Magnus.

Whispering, he said "We-I can't do this anymore. The Queen told-I have to marry someone. I have to marry Clary. We can't do this. I-"

Alec stopped and saw Magnus. His shoulders had dropped; his head was sinking from his neck. His mouth had turned upwards, as if tasting something foul. Wrinkles had appeared all over his face, and Alec could see the beginnings of tears forming in Magnus' eyes.

"I knew this was too good to be true" Magnus said.

Alec couldn't bear to see Magnus in that state. Something deep within him, drove him to take Magnus' hand, to warm it slowly within his own, to slowly cup Magnus' cheek, to caress him gently, and to lightly begin kissing him again.

Once again passion overcame them both, and they began to kiss with more ferocity than before. Despite all that, they both were also crying. With tears flooding down their cheeks, they broke off the kiss and just embraced. They wanted nothing more than to be with each other in that moment, to feel the other's body pressed against his own.

Magnus muttered, "The Queen can go fuck herself, you're mine."

Alec gave Magnus a weak smile.

Magnus then whispered seductively in Alec's ear, "Your little smile melts my heart blue-eyes, and I barely know you."

Alec's hand took Magnus' and started to drag his body towards Alec's room. There he looked Magnus in the eye and asked him if he would stay the night, if they could hold each other till they slept. Magnus only nodded.

Together they climbed into bed, and folded into each other. There they lay; there they slept, together feeding off the other's warmth; together, knowing that they belonged to each other, and that the morning would bring the beautiful feeling of two bodies pressed together and the faint scent of sandalwood.

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**I hope you enjoyed the past three chapters! Things are still pretty busy, so I'm not going to be publishing as frequently as I used to. Special shout out and thanks to MyGhela for all the wonderful reviews! I'd love to hear the rest of y'alls feedback too! **


	15. Chapter 14

**Pandemonium: Chapter 14**  
_These beloved characters of ours belong to the one and only Cassandra Clare, to whom we are incredibly indebted. It must also be noted that there are other characters included herein that belong to other creators from across the spans of literature, film, television, and music; it is to them that I am deeply indebted, for I have yet to thank them individually. Finally, it ought to be mentioned that not all characters are indebted to other individuals; some of them are "daggers of the mind, false creations, proceeding from the heat oppressed brain," that is to say they are from mine own imagination. Concurrently with that reminder, I implore you to remember that this is entirely a work of fiction, and any resemblance to events past, present, or future is entirely coincidental. _

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**Un poco AN: Other than a few select people, I still feel as if I haven't really connected to you, dear readers. When not burying myself in work I worry that I disappoint you by failing to do things for you. Thus at the end of this chapter, I will include a questionnaire for you to answer. Please take the time to respond; it will help me move forward. Now the story for you:**

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Alec awoke to shouting in his antechamber. He remembered the previous night, falling asleep in Magnus' arms, being enveloped in his warmth, and enjoying the sonorous beauty of his slight snore.

Magnus was no longer in his bed.

Then, Alec heard his voice, "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIM!"

To Alec's utmost surprise, the voice that responded was Jace's.

"Wait" Alec thought, "JACE!? Oh no. This means he knows. He must have seen something."

His thoughts were interrupted by Jace's response to Magnus, "HE WOULD NEVER CLIMB IN TO BED WILLINGLY WITH THE LIKES OF YOU!"

Magnus responded with a resounding "Hmph." Alec imagined him with his ruffled clothes, somewhat set down hair, and his arms crossed across his chest, looking down on Jace with the air of superiority and disgust. Alec chuckled at the thought of Magnus looking like that. It was both hilarious and oddly appealing at the same time.

Realizing that it was best to intervene at some point, Alec walked out of his room, completely devoid of a plan.

Jace immediately ran over to him and started shaking him, shouting, "WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU? DID HE TOUCH YOU? WELL OBVIOUSLY HE TOUCHED YOU, BUT I MEAN IN THAT WAY? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM. I'M GOING TO KILL HIM. HE'S DEAD. FIRST CLARY, NOW YOU!? WHAT DID HE DO!?"

Alec was a bit surprised. He hadn't expected such a reaction from Jace. His face was distraught, his eyes bewildered, his golden composure suddenly looking a bit less 24 karat. It was a bit much for Alec. For some reason, he wanted to go over to Jace and just embrace him, hold him in his arms, but he couldn't do something like that in front of Magnus; he was Magnus' now, right?

Magnus must have noticed that Alec was staring, because he raised one single eyebrow in a look of consternation that said some combination of "Are you going to say something or let me die? and Are you really ogling the one who spends his time kissing your would-be wife after spending the night snuggling with me?"

Alec looked down, and whispered "Jace, I-uh-have something to tell you. You might want to-uh-sit down for this."

Jace's eyes exploded out of his head, as he shouted "BY THE ANGEL HE DID SOMETHING TO YOU DIDN'T HE!? I SAW HIM WITH HIS ARMS WRAPPED AROUND YOU. WHAT DID HE DO!? I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU. WHY DIDN'T YOU SCREAM FOR HELP?!"

Alec, still looking down said, "Please Jace, just sit down. I'll explain everything in a moment. Magnus, please leave us and find Izzy. I could use her help right now."

Magnus gave Alec a soft, knowing smile, then left the room, but not before giving Jace a cold stare that chilled him to the bone.

With his mouth agape, Jace reluctantly sat down.

Alec started, "Jace, I-uh-I don't really know how to-uh-say this. I-hmm. I guess I should start by saying that Magnus didn't do anything." Jace looked at him with a frown of disapproval. "Uh, well, he didn't do anything that he-uh-wasn't given express permission to, I guess that's what I'm saying."

Jace stared at him and asked, "So you let him in to your bed like that? But, why?"

Alec stared at the floor for a minute. His throat was caught up. He didn't know how to say it. For once, he really did wish Izzy was next to him-and Magnus too. He always felt more comfortable around those two.

Luckily for him, his wish came true and Izzy walked into the room with Magnus. They both immediately walked to the couch he was sitting on and plopped.

Izzy whispered to Alec, "It's okay. You can do it. You're strong enough and ready."

Alec took a deep breath, then he began:

"Jace, I-I'm not like you in some ways. You obviously like Clary a lot, but I could never like her in that way. And it's-uh-not because of who she is. It's-uh-because she's not really my type because my type is-."

Alec could barely breathe. His head refused to come up, and his voice refused to leave his throat.

Magnus reached for his hand, and Alec took it. Through that hand he felt strength and warmth pouring through; through that hand he felt faith and desire pouring through; through that hand he felt love, yes love, pouring through.

Alec cleared his throat for the last time and said it:

"Jace, Clary's not my type because my type is boys; it's men. Magnus was in my bed because I wanted him there, because I like him in that way, and-"

Jace cut him off by saying, "Oh thank goodness."

Finally, Alec picked up his head. Everyone noticed that his eyes seemed a little red, as if he was on the verge of tears. His voice rose a little as he said, "What?"

Jace smiled broadly and said, "I was worried that he drugged you or something. If that's the way you are, then that's the way you are. I guess I'm happy you found someone, right?"

Alec's jaw dropped. He had expected some form of verbal abuse; he had expected rage; he had expected prejudice; he had expected the end of his life as he knew it, but instead he got that which he craved the most: acceptance.

"So," Jace said, "who else knows?"

Realizing that her brother was no longer in much of a state to speak, Izzy responded "Nobody else outside of this room, though I guess Clary has an idea since she saw the two of them in the middle of their first kiss. That's why she was all confused and what not, Magnus may have scared her a bit. He's oh so protective of this one (pointing to Alec)."

"Oh," Jace replied, "I-uh-guess I-uh-owe you an uh-apology", speaking to Magnus.

Magnus simply raised an eyebrow and put on a smirk that said, "Well Goldie Locks, I'm waiting."

Jace looked at Magnus and said, "I-I'm sorry about yelling at you. And pulling a knife on you. And threatening to kill you."

Magnus simply rolled his eyes. Then, Alec gave him a squeeze on the arm.

Chuckling, Magnus said, "It would seem that my-uh-boyfriend? paramour?-would like for me to accept your apology. So I guess I will."

Alec looked up with his jaw on the floor again. "Boyfriend?" He whispered.

"Oh," Magnus said "In-uh-our community, that's-uh-what you would call us. I was just-uh-using paramour for your sake."

Alec smiled softly, and huskily said "Boyfriend," looking at Magnus seductively.

Magnus responded by returning the seductive look, and purring, "Say that again, boyfriend."

Alec opened his mouth acquiescing to Magnus' request, but didn't get the chance; Magnus decided that it was the perfect opportunity to kiss him, fully on the lips, as if Jace and Izzy weren't right there.

They hungrily began kissing, exploring each other's mouths with their respective tongues. Each started to moan and growl deep within their throats. This time it was Alec's hand that slowly began to reach for the hem of Magnus' shirt.

"Ahem," Izzy interrupted. "While I'm sure you would love to continue that all day, you both do have other things to attend to."

Magnus broke off the kiss, and gave Izzy a playful scowl. He immediately got up, and started to leave the room, making sure to walk extremely seductively, just to torture Alec with the sight of his ass swaying as he walked. Right before leaving the room, Magnus winked at Alec and blew him a little kiss.

Jace groaned. "Are you two going to be that type of couple?" he asked.

"I for one," interjected Izzy, "think that it's absolutely adorable!"

Jace rolled his eyes. He got up and said, "Well I think it's time I go. Alec, you might want to-uh-wash up a bit. You smell a lot like sandalwood, and you're glistening from all that glitter."

Alec turned bright red in the face.

Before Jace could leave, Izzy interrupted him, "Wait Jace! I have an amazing idea! Bring Clary over for dinner tonight with Alec and Magnus!"

"So like a double date?" Jace asked.

Izzy smirked. "More like a triple date. I'm bringing someone too."

At those words, Alec's face turned around. "Who are you bringing? What's his name?" he demanded of Izzy.

Rather petulantly, she responded "It's a surprise."

Jace chortled, and exited the room.

"Now, big brother," Izzy said, "I really think you should wash up. Your face is still flushed from all your kissing; you reek of sandalwood, and the two of you have tracked that glitter all around the place; it's like the world is sparkling."

Alec just sighed. For once in his life, things had actually gone somewhat according to plan. As soon as this stupid triple date was over, he could go back to everything else. Until then he needed to wash up, and more importantly, wear something nice for Magnus.

-That Evening-

Alec was in a furious mood. Every single outfit that he had picked out had been rejected by Izzy. Apparently, it was all too plain and boring. Nothing was nearly as exciting as it ought to be, according to her.

In the end he settled for some uncomfortably tight pants that she somehow obtained from somewhere, and a dark blue navy shirt that he thought exposed a little too much collarbone.

As soon as he was dressed to her satisfaction, which included her tugging incredulously at his mop of hair for 30 minutes to "style" it, she ran off to her own chambers, where she prepared for her evening and her mysterious date.

Whilst waiting for his guests, Alec paced nervously across the room, his thoughts turning to his sisters enigmatic guest, and Clary, whom he didn't completely trust.

Luckily, his thoughts were prevented from going any further than there when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it up to find Clary and Jace together. They seemed a little heated (perhaps they had kissed earlier?). Clary looked ravishing in a pair of black semi-tight slacks and a rather slim, but still adept at covering, green chemise with sleeves. Alec of course paid her no attention what so ever. He was too busy staring at Jace, who seemed to clean up rather nicely. Despite being dressed in denim trousers and a demure red shirt, he still lit up the room like a golden flame.

Clary cleared her throat a little, indicating that he had been staring a little too long. Then she asked somewhat stiffly, "When do you think Magnus will arrive? Also Izzy and her date?"

Alec turned a little pink, bringing some much needed color to his porcelain face. He meekly responded, "Soon I hope."

Soon turned out to be within a few seconds. There wasn't even a knock on the door, as Izzy simply entered the room in extremely tight pants and an even tighter bodice that was laced up in the back. All of it was naturally black.

At first, Alec just stared, horrified at the outfit his sister was wearing. Then, his look of horror was replaced by pure, unadulterated rage. As he stood up, about to make her go change, her enigmatic date appeared.

It was none other than Lewis, though his sister seemed to introduce him as Simon.

Clary and Jace greeted them nicely enough, but Alec had gone pale.

His sister. His crazy little sister was dating him? The quiet, meek, somewhat clumsy and awkward advisor of his? He was not her type.

After an intense glare from Izzy, Alec warmed up just enough to shake Simon's hand, though he made sure that it was extremely firm and came with an intense cold stare and plastered smile.

They all sat down together and engaged in some chit chat. Most of it revolved around crazy palace life, especially the oddness of the Queen. It turned out that Clary had her fair share of odd accents from the old batty woman as well, though Clary's were apparently from some place called Russia that Alec, Izzy, and Jace had never heard of. Simon, pointed out that it was a ways east of Idris, and not an entirely pleasant place, considering his family had left there not too many generations ago.

After a moment or two of awkward silence, Simon said, "Well not to be rude, but I'm famished. When is the food going to start?"

Alec looked downcast. Izzy mentioned that they were still waiting on Magnus, but stopped when Alec miserably whispered, "I don't think he's going to come. We should start eating anyway."

They all moved to the table, leaving an empty seat next to Alec for Magnus, should he arrive. They began to eat their meal, talking about various aspects of their day. Jace noticed that Alec seemed to not eat much or say much. In his blunt manner he asked, "Why aren't you eating?" In response to his question, he received a glare from Clary who said, "He's missing Magnus of course!"

Simon, who wasn't entirely aware of what was going on asked, "Why would you be missing Magnus?"

It was then that Alec realized that Izzy hadn't told Simon anything. Alec looked down at his full plate, took a deep breath, looked into Simon's eyes, and said, "Magnus is my boyfriend."

Never missing the cue for an entrance, Magnus burst through the door exclaiming, "I most certainly am, and I would never miss a chance to have dinner with my boyfriend! I even brought a nice old vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon."

Alec's face lit up, and not at the mention of the wine (though Izzy's certainly did). Even though Magnus looked rushed, he seemed more beautiful than ever. He wore a pair of tight pants that left little to Alec's imagination, though for once he didn't mind that since his imagination liked to go a little wild; he had on a tight deep purple shirt that not only clearly defined all of his muscles, but it also matched his caramel skin tone perfectly, bringing out the green in his cat-eyes.

Magnus lithely sat down next to Alec and kissed him on the cheek. Then, he seductively whispered, "I've been thinking about you all day, and I must say you look just enchanting in that outfit blue-eyes. The shirt brings out those gorgeous sapphires of yours."

Alec turned a delightful shade of pink, and quickly shoveled food into his mouth to prevent him from saying anything stupid.

After making the necessary excuses, Magnus began pouring the wine rather freely. Soon everyone was laughing a bit lightly. Alec hadn't drank anything, because that was his nature. Izzy-surprisingly to Alec-was holding herself together rather well despite the three glasses. So much could not be said of Clary who was almost always giggling, nearly always trying to kiss Jace, or just loudly and obnoxiously laughing at something rather not funny that someone said.

Jace sighed with exhaustion; his drunk girlfriend was a bit much to take care of. He tried to hush her, so that she wouldn't say anything, but she continued to speak.

Whilst slurring her words, she said, rather loudly with some giggles interjected, "aaandd myy faaather wanted me to ssssspppy on allll of you!"

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**Question Time! (Number 1, Mr. Speaker.) **

**Sorry that's an awkward reference to something that I always just throw in there because I'm just a bit wacky. Anyway, after that long chapter, here are those promised questions that I absolutely hope you will take the time to answer:  
**

**1. What's your opinion of the Framing Device? Is it too much? Too little? Entirely unnecessary? Confusing?  
2. Do I spend too much time in dialogue and action? Has the setting not been developed well enough? If that is the case, do you think I should go to earlier chapters and fix that? What, if any, chapters do you specifically think could use more description?  
3. Are there any parts that are just confusing? Is it the language, the characterization, the setting? Should I be more clear and concise? Is there ambiguity when it comes to motives and actions?  
4. Are the lemons too much? Too little? What type of lemons are you looking for? How quickly do you want things to get more zesty? Do you want just Malec lemons or other lemons too?  
5. Is there anything you would like for me to add? Any characters you think deserve mentioning (I'm considering throwing Tessa in here for later chapters)?  
****6. Any references to literature, film, movies, television, or music you want explained? **

**If there's anything else you would like to add that's not included in these questions, please feel free to do so. Remember: Comment is Free. **


	16. Chapter 15

**Pandemonium: Chapter** **15**  
_Credit to Cassandra Clare for her amazing characters; credit to those creators whose characters I have taken for allusions; credit to myself for some of the characters that you've never seen before. Again, this is purely a work of fiction, blah blah blah. Y'all get the idea.  
_**So nobody answered my questions. This sucks. I guess I'll just go on from here, but don't expect much; I'm not really feeling the need to write to an unresponsive audience. **

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The piercing silence that had followed Clary's statement was broken by the sound of a shattering glass.

"Mazel Tov!" shouted Magnus.

Simon simply glared at him.

It was Jace who truly broke the silence. "Clary," he said, "what do you mean by spying?"

Clary giggled and rather jubilantly explained, "My father asked me to spy on all of you so that he could find a reason or a way to have Alec removed from his position. That way I could become next in line for the throne and he would control me and tell me what to do like he always does, so in the end he gets to rule Idris like he always wanted. But I don't like him, and I don't like that plan. He's terrible. Alec would do a much better job, especially with Magnus. Those two are the cutest royal couple ever."

Alec just blushed, but Magnus' eyes had widened in a combination of fear and rage. He began to shout, "WHAT HAVE YOU TOLD HIM!? WHAT DOES HE KNOW?! DOES HE KNOW ABOUT US? ABOUT ANYTHING!?"

Clary was taken aback by his tone of voice, and couldn't respond. Not that she needed to, Jace jumped in her defense, shouting: "SHE'S DRUNK AND TIRED. SHE DOESN'T LIKE HIM. SHE HATES HIM. DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT HER!"

The hair on Magnus' back stood up and he bared his teeth at Jace, seething "If anything happens to Alexander because your dumb drunk girlfriend decided to be daddy's little girl and tell that Mafia Boss anything about anything, she's dead."

Jace didn't even take a moment to draw his dagger and step in front of Magnus, threatening to knife him then and there. He coldly whispered, "I don't care what you are to Alec; if you lay a hand on her you'll be dead so fast, the glitter will still be in the air from when you moved your arm to touch her."

The silence in the air was dead and heavy.

Alec was too stunned to do anything, so it was Izzy who took control of the situation.

She gently put glass down, and walked up to the two of them. In one deft movement, both Jace and Magnus were on opposite sides of the room, sprawled across the floor with bewildered looks on their faces.

The prize for most bewildered look, however, went to none other than Simon, who was extremely surprised by his date's physical abilities (which far surpassed his own). In his surprise he took a step back and broke the glass that Izzy had so gently placed down.

Magnus chortled and shouted "L'Chaim!"

Finally, Alec snapped out of his daze and gave a cold look to Clary, who still had no idea what was going on. He walked over to Jace and helped him up (which got him a very sad puppy-dog look from Magnus), then he gruffly said, "Take Clary back to her rooms and make sure she gets to sleep safely. We'll all talk about this tomorrow when we're less inebriated."

He then turned his attention to Izzy and Simon, he told them that it was time to end the party and go back to their respective rooms. Seeing that Alec was close to seething, they obliged and left him.

Alec then turned to Magnus, who as it turned out couldn't hold his liquor quite as well as it seemed; he was a bit tipsy. Smiling a little too gleefully, he said, "Alexander Gideon Lightwood, that commanding tone of yours is making me very aroused. Command me some more."

"Magnus, you're drunk."

"Not nearly enough darling. My vision isn't blurry because you still look like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Alec couldn't help blushing at that. Realizing that Magnus was in no state to leave the palace, or even make it down the stairs, he pulled him to his feet and started dragging him to his room.

"Alexander! You have to ask my permission before you ravage me! But you know you have my permission. You always have."

Alec was even more pink at the thought of this, but he gently put Magnus on to his bed.

"I can't sleep with all these clothes on, I'll die under the covers and it will be very uncomfortable."

"Absolutely not. You're drunk and not thinking clearly. You will keep your clothes on, Magnus."

"Oh I promise I won't do anything to you. I would never threaten your virtue, blue-eyes. You're too important to me."

A bit reluctantly-though not all that reluctantly since Alec had a burning desire to see Magnus devoid of clothing-Alec removed Magnus' outerwear leaving him bare chested and in his underwear. One thing was very clear: Magnus was very well endowed and clearly had a burning desire. More than that though, Magnus was more beautiful than Alec could have ever imagined. His skin was tawny and stretched beautifully over his extremely well toned muscles. Inebriated as he was, Magnus still looked like a sexually ravenous panther lying down in Alec's bed.

"Oh you're not going to sleep like that are you, Alexander? If you get to see me like this, I get to see you like this. Take it off."

Alec turned a dark shade of magenta that was probably extremely unhealthy. Alec couldn't do something like this. It was too scandalous. He silently shook his head, denying Magnus' request.

Magnus batted his eyelashes and tried his very best to convince Alec into taking his clothes off, but it was to no avail. Then Magnus got up, angrily and started to pick up his clothes.

Nearly growling he said, "Fine then, stare at me all you like, use me for your little kisses as much as you want because that's what I am to you isn't it, a little plaything to throw away when the time comes to rule Idris. And you actually had me fooled there for a little, but you're just as bad as the rest. Goodnight, Alexander."

Alec whimpered. He never imagined that Magnus could feel like that. He never wanted Magnus to feel like that. And most certainly of all, he did not feel that way about Magnus.

He stopped Magnus in his tracks and kissed him firmly on the lips. At first, Magnus was entirely unresponsive; he didn't even close his eyes, instead he gave Alec a cold stare that effectively said, "Keep on proving me right, blue-eyes."

But then, to Magnus' surprise, Alec began to move them back towards the bed. In the meantime, he gently guided Magnus' hands to the hem of his shirt, allowing Magnus to slowly pull it up over his head. Then Alec did something that even surprised himself; he broke off the kiss and began to move down to Magnus' neck, at first just kissing, then slowly nibbling, and eventually biting gently. The taste of Magnus' skin in his mouth was tantalizing. In response, Magnus began to moan deeply, saying "mmmmmmm, Alec." Alec responded, by moving down to the base of Magnus' throat and suckling the soft skin right above his chest. Magnus' eyes lit up with a fiery desire heretofore unseen by anyone, even Magnus himself. He deftly lifted Alec up, and flipped him onto his back. Magnus attacked Alec's neck, kissing, nibbling, and even biting (not so gently, but oh so pleasurably) his neck. Then Magnus moved down to Alec's collarbones, which had been arousing him since he first walked in that night. Slowly, with kisses and little nibbles, Magnus made his way down Alec's chest. He took a particular amount of time to kiss Alec's nipples and to lick them ever so gently, making sure that Alec's entire body shivered underneath his, and that he would call out, rather loudly, "Magnus!"

The sound of Alec moaning his name made Magnus even more aroused, unable to help himself, he moved down to Alec's stomach, kissing and nibbling down to his waist line. Then in a deft movement involving just his teeth, he successfully removed Alec's trousers, leaving Alec in a similar state of undress as himself. Alec's body was more beautiful than anything Magnus' imagination could have conjured. In addition to having skin the color of moonlight and muscles so well defined that they made Magnus rage with desire, Alec's body was covered in the smallest scars and silver markings, each making him glisten in the slow light, showing off different angles of his adonis like beauty. Of course Magnus noticed none of that. His entire concentration was driven to the small dark patch of hair that extended down from Alec's navel underneath the waistband of his underwear and beyond to the place where he noticed that Alec was very generously endowed, and extremely aroused.

Magnus moved his lips to Alec's waistband, and slowly began to pull back with his teeth...

"No," Alec whispered faintly. He wasn't ready for that. He couldn't do it.

There was faint glimmer of anger in Magnus' eyes, but it was slowly replaced by understanding; Alec would have to come to terms with this in his own way. For now, Magnus was content with having Alec nearly entirely naked in his arms.

Still a little drunk, Magnus watched as his beautiful blue-eyed angel fell asleep in his arms. He had never seen anyone so delicate in his life, anyone so breakable. This was how the belonged, though maybe without the thin fabric blocking their nether regions.

Not entirely sure if his boyfriend was asleep, Magnus softly said, "Alexander, I love you."


	17. Chapter 16

**Pandemonium: Chapter 16**  
_Y'all know the situation; nothing is actually mine except for a few characters; credits to CC and the rest, etc. _

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Alec woke up feeling warm and ensconced in Magnus' arms. For once he didn't have any nightmares that night.

Of course, what nightmares don't come in the night become real in the day.

For the most part, Alec's life was an exception to the rule, both his days and nights were ruled by nightmares. Today was more of the same.

It took Alec a moment to realize that there was a soft knock at his door. "Your Highness, it is 10AM; you must get up for the day."

It was Carstairs.

"Fuck." Alec muttered quietly to himself.

Magnus, who was mostly sleeping, replied "Maybe later, darling. I want to sleep some more."

Alec didn't have much time. Carstairs would come in soon enough, and even though he was blind, he would be able to hear, and most certainly smell, Magnus. How was Alec going to explain any of this? Carstairs would most certainly tell his father, and Robert Lightwood was many things, but accepting was not one of them. Not to mention, the difficulty he would have explaining to Carstairs the trail of clothing lying on the floor if he should happen to step on something.

Alec gently lifted Magnus' arms from his body, and got up quickly to the door where he greeted Carstairs with a hoarse voice.  
"Good Morning, Carstairs. I'm sorry I woke up late. I had-uh-a long night."

Carstairs only chuckled lightly. Then he said, "Well it's good that you're up now. You have a busy day ahead of you, so you'd best get ready."

He then turned to walk away, and right before leaving he said with a kind smile, "Oh, and you might want to tell Mr. Bane to get up too; his day is just as busy as yours."

Alec's jaw dropped; Carstairs knew. How did he know? Who else knew?

He quickly ran into his room, and shook Magnus awake. Magnus, yawned in a very cat-like manner and said, still somewhat sleepily, "I could get used to waking up to your blue-eyes, even if that does involve rudely shaking me awake."

Alec didn't have time for flattery and sexual innuendo. He rather brashly said, "Carstairs knows. We're done for."

Magnus laughed. "What?" Alec asked, rather annoyed.

"Of course he knows. That's his job, you know, knowing things. He's known you for a very long time, that means he must have figured it out, and when I probably didn't show up back home or to my office this morning after a dinner party at your place that I was invited to, he connected the dots. If your secret is safe with anyone at all, it's with him."

Alec looked a little abashed for having drawn such rash conclusions, but then he began to scowl.

"You know Alexander, when you scowl like that and furrow your brow, it is actually extremely alluring.

Alec giggled at that, and playfully pushed Magnus back down on the bed. Magnus responded by taking him down with him and planting his lips down on Alec's. They began lightly kissing each other and playfully nibbling on each other's lips. At one point, Magnus gave Alec's ass a good squeeze, making him moan with pleasure and begin to kiss a little more furiously. They both were careful to note the other's throbbing erection rubbing against his own through the thin cloth, making them both flustered and very aroused.

Suddenly, Magnus pulled back a little. He gently tried to hide the erection with his hands as he said, "We really should get ready...I suggest I head back to my place, and you-uh-take a very cold shower."

Alec blushed a little, but agreed that it was for the best. Then he did said something he wasn't planning on saying, "Magnus, have dinner with me tonight."

And so they agreed that it was best to have dinner that evening for they both had important questions to ask the other.

* * *

_It was lunchtime and I was hungry. I decided that it was best to pause a bit, before the following evening to once again try to get to know the Professor. This time I did my best to avoid talking about his employer, and move to other matters, like how he learned to speak, read, and write our language so well. _

_"I have always had an affinity for languages, and yours in particular for it is said that the best stories have been told in this language." _

_Duly impressed I asked him the question that had been nagging me since I first met him, "Why are you called the Professor?" _

_He looked at me a little dumbfoundedly; evidently it was supposed to be common knowledge._

_"I am called the Professor because that is who I am; that is what I am. The place that I'm from has a renowned university, I'm sure you've heard of it; we've taught many great students, best known of all would be Kvothe. I am a member of the faculty who specializes in the literature of the world. I was tasked with collecting stories by my patron, so here I am." _

_There was a hint as if he wanted to say something more, but I couldn't seem to get it out of him. There was an ulterior motive here; there was an external purpose driving him to get these stories. Somehow I couldn't put my finger on it, but it had something to do with the way his eyes always shifted around, looking to see if someone could see him or could overhear what he was saying. _

_He seemed to nervous to continue such a subject, so I moved to something that was more intrusive: his personal life. When I asked him if he had any family, a significant other, etc. He simply laughed. His response was both oddly depressing, yet quite interesting. _

_"I will be dying alone-though that's how we all die, even if we don't want to believe it-I plan on retiring after I complete my journey to find these stories, a journey that will probably take the next three decade. I'll find myself a small cottage in the woods and get myself some dogs and cats. When the time comes for me to die, I will go to House of Black and White and drink from the pond. What about you, Storyteller?" _

_I was shocked by the personal question. I hadn't thought he would ask anything like that, but I couldn't refuse to answer. I told him as much of the truth as I could: I was an only child of two parents who had died shortly after my birth. I was taken in by a kindly old wise woman by the name of Annabeth Chase. Upon my 18th birthday I was taken to my parents house, where I discovered this story amongst the others. I made it my task to find out the veracity of this tale, and so sought him out when I knew that it was true. I haven't had time to make a family, this story, these characters, they are my family now. _

_I neglected to mention that I too would be dying alone, but not in the way described by him; my death would be much less comforting and much sooner. _

_He must have realized that I was withholding some information from him, like my lineage and disease, but he didn't seem to pursue the topic much further, probably because the food had arrived. We ate silently, and upon finishing the meal, we moved on to the story. _

* * *

By the time Alec's tedious day was over, he was covered in grime and extremely tired, yet he couldn't have been more excited for the impending dinner with Magnus.

When he arrived to his rooms, he was surprised to find Carstairs pacing back in forth in the antechamber, which hadn't been set up for his dinner yet. Somewhat confused Alec asked, "What's going on?"

Carstairs looked at him with the silver eyes, showing both sadness and compassion. Then he said, "I cancelled your dinner with Mr. Bane."

"WHAT!? WHY!?"

"My sincerest apologies, Your Highness, but it had to be done. Things between the two of you were becoming a bit too, how to put this delicately, obvious. There were rumors among the guards, and the servants sometimes spoke of things, things that would damage your reputation and would bring your rule to a premature end."

Alec was furious. What gave Carstairs the right to interfere with his relationship? His personal matters weren't of concern for him, but at the same time they were. Deep within, Alec knew that Carstairs was only looking out for him, that he was doing his best to protect him and Magnus, to make sure that while they're relationship stayed secret, it didn't lead to their untimely demises.

Somehow, without seeing or hearing anything, Carstairs understood this all. He said, "Now I know you may be a bit angry with me, Your Highness, so I have devised a possible solution to this predicament. I warn you though, it involves deceit, and that could lead to larger problems."

"I don't care," Alec said quickly.

"You will get a household in the countryside, but it will not be under your name. It will belong to a 'friend' of yours, who in fact does not exist. This friend has some sort of a deathly illness, and so whenever necessary you will go visit him to take care of him, an excellent example of you being a model prince. In reality though, you will be going to that household to meet with Mr. Bane. You will be accompanied by a single guard."

"This story is going to need some incredible details to make it plausible."

"I have thought of certain ideas for this plan, but first you must find out if Mr. Bane approves, something you can do during your meeting later this evening in a more clandestine location."

Alec jumped at the realization that he would in fact be having dinner with Magnus, and quickly ran to get ready. He had a lot to talk about, including those important questions. He made sure to firmly thank Carstairs for all his work.

* * *

By the time Alec got to the spot Carstairs had designated for his dinner with Magnus, a dark seedy hole somewhere deep underneath the palace, he was bubbling with excitement to see Magnus and talk about what Carstairs had proposed earlier. At the same time though, Alec was very confused; he had never felt this bubbling excitement when it came to meeting anyone. It was a very confusing thought for him, all this excitement and joy coming from one source; it just didn't seem logical to him.

Nonetheless, he couldn't argue with his feelings, so instead he ran towards his destination and found that Magnus was already seated in the dimly lit room with a small table that had a single candle on it. Despite being rather dark and murky (somewhat reminiscent of his earlier nightmare), Alec found the setting extremely romantic. Taking his seat across from Magnus, he let his hand onto the table, where it was gently picked up and placed into Magnus' own. The small romantic gesture, and the light touch set fire to Alec's soul. Seeing as the slightest of caresses could have him so enflamed, Alec worried that further contact with Magnus could only lead down to the path of debauchery.

As he sat down, Magnus smiled and asked him, "How was your day darling?"

"Terrible. I couldn't concentrate on anything because I kept on thinking about you."

Magnus purred softly at the sound of that, and gently caressed Alec's hand, enflaming him more. "I couldn't stop thinking about you either," he replied.

Alec looked into Magnus' eyes and noticed the golden flecks were glowing even more in the faint candlelight. Even in the darkness, Magnus looked glorious.

"Stop that!" Alec told himself, "You have things to talk about."

And so Alec set about trying to get into the conversation that he needed to have. He began first by asking Magnus about his family, something he had never done before; as it turned out, that was a terrible idea (he made a mental note never to do that again). Magnus not only avoided the question but also scowled in a way that could compete with Jace when Alec tried to bring the subject up again. In return, Magnus asked him a plethora of questions about his own family, which, while he wasn't entirely willing to answer, gave him a chance to relax more. He realized whilst answering the questions, that he never felt more natural than when speaking to Magnus. With everyone else, even Izzy at times, the conversation seemed forced, but with Magnus it was natural-completely and utterly natural.

Eventually though, the conversation came to the topic he feared the most. It wasn't a natural progression there either, it could be seen in both of their eyes that it was something they were trying to avoid for the entire night. The inevitable conversation that they should have had two nights ago. The conversation about the future, their future.

Alec began, "Magnus, we need to talk about-"

"Your soon to be fiancee? Yes, I know. Though I'd rather not. There are plenty of other things I'd rather have your lips doing than talking, especially about that."

Alec blushed slightly, though the light already gave his cheeks a rosy hue. He looked down at his plate and whispered, "I don't know what to do Magnus. I-I'm-I think I have to marry her-or someone-some woman. But I just don't think I can because... well because of you. You make me smile in a way that I've never smiled before. You make me laugh like someone whose never heard a joke before. With you I feel like I'm home; I feel natural; I feel safe in your arms. I don't know what I'm trying to say, just that I don't know what to do, and I know I can't marry her or anyone because... because I love you Magnus Bane."

Alec sniffled as the tears slowly rolled down his cheeks. Magnus remained silent. Alec slowly lifted his head to look at Magnus whose eyes seemed the slightest bit watery.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you confuse me; you torture me with the way you act and speak and breathe; you are an enigma, an ethereal being that has encapsulated my imagination; you drive me insane and you calm me down; you make me feel at home in your arms, and I may not truly understand you, but I do know one thing: I love you too."

Then they kissed. Not the impassioned kisses they had shared before, not the lustful desirous kisses that hinted of something more coming. No, they kissed like two lovers whose only comfort is the other's arms.

When they broke off the kiss, Magnus said, "We'll find a way around the marriage situation, don't you worry. Now tell me about Carstairs' idea to make this sneaking around less conspicuous."

"It's a bit odd, and it involves a lot of lying. Basically I make up a friend who has some sort of sickness; he lives in the countryside and I go visit him often. Except when I'm visiting him, really I'm going to be with you."

Magnus only smiled and said, "Do you have any names and sicknesses lined up?"

Alec put on a small soft grin and said, "I'll be visiting my good friend Algernon Moncrieff, who just so happens to have a terrible case of pentapox!"

"Pentapox? I'm pretty sure I've heard of that before."

"It's not actually a thing...I think. But I think I'm not ready to visit him just yet."

Magnus looked at Alec and smiled warmly while taking his hand, "You don't have to visit him until you're ready. He can wait as long as you need to."

With that, they kissed lightly again, knowing that they were kissing not in passion, but in love.

They wished each other a good night, and left for the night, wondering "for in that sleep of [love], what dreams may come."

* * *

**AN: A couple of things I just wanted to go over.  
1. Sorry that was long (and sorry that things are getting longer) I'm just trying to cover a lot of stuff in a limited amount of time.  
2. If things are becoming too rushed, especially with Malec, please let me know in reviews so I can work on slowing that down.  
3. Here's something interesting you might want to know: The process that Carstairs came up with for Alec to sneak off with Magnus? That has a name-Bunburying. :P In fact, the "Bunbury" in this case is the original inventor of Bunburying in _The Importance of Being Earnest, _Algernon Moncrieff. (Pentapox is a reference to something else entirely) Furthermore, certain scholarly articles have argued that Bunburying is a euphemism for gay sex, which in this case it is, so yeah that's a thing. **

**Hope you enjoyed that excessively long chapter. Keep on Reviewing! **


	18. Chapter 17

**Pandemonium: Chapter** **17 **_  
I assume we all know the disclaimer (and its various forms) by this point. But incase you for some reason don't, again most stuff belongs to CC; some stuff belongs to other people (like Oscar Wilde from the last chapter); other stuff is entirely my own (it is an AU after all). _

* * *

It was cold. The cell was dark and it was cold. It smelled of fish.

From deep within (was it the recesses of his mind or somewhere outside, he couldn't tell) there was a laugh. Not the light chortle or snigger of someone enjoying a terrible joke; not the full throated laugh of someone thoroughly happy with an event; it was more like a dark scoff accompanied by a thick aspiration, the laugh of someone thoroughly satisfied with the current case of schadenfreude.

It sounded like Valentine Morgenstern's laugh.

Although he couldn't see him he knew he was there. Somewhere in the cell, somewhere in the dark those beady eyes were looking back at him, staring at him, goading him, reminding him of the truth.

From somewhere closer this time, the laugh returned.

The cold had returned, and whipped around him, sending shivers down his spine. The wind was whispering things; it was whispering the names of those who were dead, and each name was blamed upon him. He was the bringer of death, the bringer of the darkness, and the bringer of the cold. Unworthy to rule; unworthy to live.

He wanted to scream but he couldn't. His voice was lost to the cold and the dark.

The wind began to howl and the darkness pressed colder. Valentine's laugh got louder and louder and louder.

Out of nowhere something struck him. He began to feel something warm trickling from his skull. He was lying on the cold hard ground. His eyes began to close.

* * *

Alec screamed.

"It was just a nightmare," he told himself.

His room was dark and cold, outside a tempest raged on, the wind screamed through his open window as sheets of rain attacked the ground. The world was violent; it was a sure sign of someone, or something's displeasure. The doubts in his mind, the doubts that had started from the very first kiss had returned.

"How," he asked himself, "could something be so wrong, yet so right?"

No answer came to mind.

The trappings of his fate, the horrors of his mind, and the anger of his soul returned to him in that instance. He was reminded of his duty; he was reminded that his position was tenuous, but more importantly was entirely of duties. His life was not his own to live. His life had, and would forever be, dedicated to service. He had to serve; he had to honor his family, the Lightwood name; he had to serve Idris and her people, for it was by their grace he was in this room; he had to serve the world, to make the inevitability of progress work for humanity, not against it. These were his duties, and not a single one of them mentioned love, or personal satisfaction. His life was not his own, and he knew that.

Yet, somewhere in his mind a face appeared. The face of Magnus Bane. A face that told him of life worth living; a face reminding him of dreams from time gone by. Such was a life, lived in love and happiness; lived long and prosperously; lived with Magnus Bane.

The predicament overwhelmed him. How could he make a choice between such opposites? Was there no middle path? And why, most importantly, could he not make the choice? That, in his mind, was his true failure: the inability to choose. Living two separate and opposite lives was not living at all. It was dividing the self and dividing the soul into two. It was untenable, yet the only reconciliation that he could receive. He would have to choose. He would have to decide. This weakness could not go on for much longer.

The tempest of the world outside started to slow; the wind returned to a whisper; the rain daintily fell upon the ground giving it much needed moisture.

The tempest of his mind raged on; the wind, screaming in opposite directions, demanding that he choose; the rain cascaded, flooding his mind with reminders of his weakness and his ineptness.

Alec needed respite. He needed the calming touch that brought the tempest of the mind to heel. He needed Magnus. He needed the one thing he knew he couldn't have; the one thing he mustn't seek out.

Alec dressed quickly and moved to the antechamber, where to his surprise he found Jace sitting there, evidently on guard duty.

"Are you alright?" Jace asked.

Alec barely nodded, and instead slumped over to the couch where he promptly sat down.

"I'll take that as a no then," said Jace, "well what's bothering you? Did Magnus say something, because I can break his neck for you if you want."

Alec was too distracted to answer, and just continued to stare at nothing in particular.

"Do you plan on talking to me or staring at nothing for the entire morning?"

"Huh?" Alec responded, "Oh, sorry I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"You wouldn't really care."

"Try me."

Alec sighed, and then spoke slowly, "I'm having thoughts, about this whole thing with Magnus. I'm starting to think that it's a bad idea. I have duties to my family, to Idris, to the world, and I can't just throw that all away for Magnus, for love. But at the same time, don't I deserve to be happy, because that's what he makes me, happy. The worst thing is that I can't even choose. I'm too weak to just simply decide which one I need to pick. The longer I stay in middle, the longer I waver, the worse it gets, the more dangerous it gets, and just because I'm indecisive and weak."

Jace looked at him pensively for a second. Then took a breath and responded with some surprising alacrity, "I can't decide for you. Nobody can decide for you. I can't even tell you which one is better. The only thing I can do is commiserate with you. You may not realize it, but I'm in a similar situation. I realized last night, despite what Clary said, and I know she means well, that I love her-unconditionally. But I can't just do that. I have my duties, to you and to Idris. Do I just throw it all away for her? She probably doesn't even love me. I'm probably just an infatuation, yet another plaything for her in a long line, but still I feel like I could throw it all away. I can't tell you what to do; nobody can, but I can only offer this much advise: take your time; rushing this decision will only make you regret taking the road not taken for the rest of your life."

Alec stared at Jace for a second. It was surprising to see so much wisdom from someone whose main words involved witticisms and sarcasm. Still it was a very refreshing to hear. The tempest within may not have been tamed, but it was beginning to slow down.

Alec was about to say something when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Carstairs, who said he came bearing a note from Magnus. The note read:

_My Dearest Alexander,  
_ _The dearth of your touch last night was an alarming cause of sadness for me. I know we cannot see each other today (yet another cause of sadness for me), but I have had an idea. There is a place I'd like to go with you, away from the palace, in the City of Bones. Meet me at yesterday's location promptly at 8:00. Tell Izzy to dress you well, but also to make sure you can move. I await the sight of your beauty in the evening.  
Love,  
M.B. _

Alec delicately folded the note and put it aside. He would keep it for the remainder of the day.

* * *

The day hadn't passed quickly enough. The good news was that he and Clary were on basic speaking terms again, though she entirely avoided the fact that she was supposed to by spying on him; instead, they worked on plans for his ascension ball with Izzy. As it, rather unsurprisingly, turned out, Alec was completely useless when it came to planning anything. In Alec's opinion, it would have been easier to not have the ball altogether. Of course that idea was entirely preposterous, so the ball was happening, and it was happening under the direction of Clary and Izzy whose taste-Alec desperately hoped-wasn't too crazy. The fact of the matter really was though, that Alec had spent the majority of the day rereading Magnus' note. Alec had all kinds of questions, especially regarding the secret place in the City of Bones. Even though he was the prince, he couldn't just go out with Magnus like that. If someone saw him, he was doomed. Nonetheless, by 6PM his worries had melted away, and Izzy had come rather promptly to dress him well, but maintain his motility.

Her first order of business, naturally, was to decide that every piece of attire he owned was entirely unworthy of the occasion.

"Do you even know what this is for?" He asked.

Izzy just gave him a sly grin.

Alec begged, "Tell me what this is, please!"

"And ruin the surprise? Never!"

Resigned to a surprise that he didn't want, Alec tried a dozen outfits. The thirteenth outfit as it turned out was "just perfect!" according to Izzy. Alec was surprised to see how formally he was dressed.

He was wearing a well fitted pair of black slacks-they were perhaps a little too well fitted for his taste-a deep blue shirt that brought out his eyes, his black dinner jacket, and a formal white bow tie. His shoes were a brightly polished black, and his hair had been tamed into looking more human than beast, but barely so. Upon seeing him, Izzy cooed, "You're going to knock him off his feet."

Alec blushed at the thought of Magnus off his feet, because that would imply him lying down, and well there were many things to be done whilst lying down.

Realizing that this endeavor of finding the perfect outfit had taken the better part of two hours, Alec rushed down to their secret meeting spot. Naturally, Magnus was late; he always needed to make an entrance.

When Magnus arrived five minutes later, it was Alec who almost fell to the floor. Magnus looked gorgeous; he was dressed amazingly in similar black slacks (though his were just tight enough to give a good view of everything), he had on a dinner jacket and underneath it a tight fitting green shirt that brought out his eyes. He too wore a white bow tie. His hair was spiked in just the perfect way, and his eyes were only lightly outlined to make his eyes shine beautifully in his face. For once though, Magnus had conservatively applied the glitter; with just enough falling on his jacket, he looked like night sky.

As soon as Alec regained his ability to think and move, he rushed over and kissed Magnus passionately. His lips tasted deliciously of strawberries, and were so soft it was almost too much for him to keep on kissing. Alec wanted to take all those clothes off and kiss other places, but Magnus held him back with a gleam in his eyes that said "later."

In that moment, Magnus pulled out two masks, one for him and one for Alec. They would be going to a masquerade.

Alec burned red with embarrassment: he couldn't dance.

Too ashamed to tell Magnus the truth though, Alec followed him to the City of Bones where they promptly went underground and found themselves in a large beautifully decorated room. There was a marble dance floor surrounded by large round tables and small two person tables all around. Waiters flittered around in their white tailcoats bringing drinks to the guests.

Magnus dragged Alec to a little table for just the two of them close to the floor. As the band started to play a surly waltz, Magnus rolled his eyes and ordered a bottle of fine Chardonnay for them, despite Alec's extreme protests. Despite the terrible sounding music, people had started moving towards the dance floor. It was then that Alec noticed why it was hidden in such a sordid place: the couples that danced were same-sex; the women danced with women and the men danced with men.

He also knew now, why they all wore masks; they needed to conceal their identities. Alec was surprised to see their numbers. He couldn't have fathomed that there were more people like him out there.

It was then that Alec was most keenly aware of his inability to dance, and so with all the confidence in him he told Magnus, "I can't dance."

Magnus simply chuckled and said, "Then today, I teach you." With that he quickly disappeared in the direction of the band, where he whispered with the conductor and gesticulated wildly, indicating some sort of argument. When Magnus returned, he had a sly smile on his face, meaning that he won. The surly waltz finally came to an end, and someone stepped up. The band began to play sharp notes accompanied by the guitar.

Magnus forced Alec out of his seat and on to his dance floor. He quickly took hold of him as the gentleman who stood at the front of the band began to sing to the syncopated beats, "When the marimba rhythms starts to play..."

Magnus held Alec tightly as they first began to sway slowly. Then, as the music and the beat made Alec loosen up, he began to sway a little more adventurously, giving more space to allow for some fancy footwork from Magnus. Before he knew it he was matching Magnus step for step, becoming the envy of many a couple on the dance floor. Unfortunately, the song came to an end, and the gentleman was excused by another.

The music softened, while the singer began to melodiously and beautifully sing "...It's going to be so easy for us to fall in love..." Magnus brought Alec in close to him, and slowly they began a slow romantic dance. This, compared to the last dance, was rather nice n' easy. Their movements fell into rhythm again as they moved in sync gently folding into the other's arms. By the time the song came to an end, they were extremely close; so much so that Alec gave a Magnus a light peck on the lips before pulling back a bit and turning red.

A third singer appeared, a man of darker complexion, his voice was velvety as he sang to the soft backdrop of bass and light cymbals that "L is for the way you look at me..."

This time it was Alec who pulled Magnus closer, taking the lead in the slow, but romantic dance. As the dance picked up energy, he began to sway Magnus around, even trying to twirl him a bit. When the song ended on a resounding major chord, Magnus was ensconced in Alec's arms. He quietly whispered in Alec's ear "I L-O-V-E you."

Alec's only response was yet another peck on the lips.

The singer changed yet again, but this time a woman of darker complexion. This time, with thicker orchestration-including some strings-the band began to play a ballad that pulled at Alec's heartstrings. In one of the most languid yet luscious voices Alec had ever heard, the singer began to say "...my love has come along; my lonely days are over..."

Magnus pulled Alec in ever so closely and began to do the sweetest slow dance they had for that entire night. Alec had never felt more comfortable and sure of himself in that moment. At last, he had found a place where he belonged. Sadly, the song ended before he had a chance to truly dance with Magnus, and in that moment they returned to their seats for some food.

The music continued to play, but they just sat there eating the delicious food together, enjoying the other's company. The physical closeness after a day apart was refreshing, but also extremely tantalizing. Eventually-they didn't know when, for they had both lost track of time in that place-they left the City of Bones and made their way to Magnus' place.

They began to kiss passionately at his doorstep, and then quickly moved inside. Once inside, they immediately discarded the masks and began to kiss more passionately. Magnus pushed Alec up against the wall and claimed his mouth as his own with passion and desire. In such close quarters Alec noticed, not for the first time, just how aroused Magnus was. The part that made Alec shiver the most was the pressure of Magnus' arousal on his own, causing him to emit a low moan. Magnus replied with a deep growl as he began to move down towards Alec's neck, slowly undoing the bow tie's knot. Magnus quickly dispensed with their dinner jackets, and unbuttoned the first two buttons of Alec's shirt, taking the time to kiss him slowly all over his lower neck, chest, and his prominent collarbones.

Alec kissed Magnus on the lips and turned him over to the wall. Magnus simply moaned and allowed Alec to claim his mouth, knowing that it was Alec's turn. With much less gentleness and care, Alec ripped open Magnus' shirt and dispensed with it entirely. Then he took the time to kiss every available part of Magnus' body, from the soft inner skin in the hollow of his neck, to the rough patch of hair just below his navel. Magnus shuddered each time Alec lightly kissed any part of his skin. Magnus moaned loudly and breathed heavily, grasping his hands through Alec's hair as Alec gently nibbled various parts of his skin, leaving tiny marks that marked Magnus as his own.

It was too much for Magnus. With a growl, he removed the rest of Alec's shirt, picked him up and gently threw him onto his bed. Magnus climbed on top of Alec and began to kiss him passionately all over his body, nibbling everywhere so that Alec's chest and stomach were ubiquitously marked by human teeth. His mouth moved down to Alec's trousers which, in their tightness, clearly showed his arousal. Magnus looked up at Alec. Green met blue, but the blue were worried. Magnus sighed softly and said, "_that _isn't the only thing we can do," gesticulating with his hand. Realizing what Magnus was implying, Alec's eyes lit up, and Magnus put on a sly smile.

Magnus moved his lips down to Alec's waist where his trousers were constricting the one thing Magnus wanted most at that moment. Rather deftly with his teeth, Magnus unbuttoned Alec's trousers and pulled them down with his underwear exposing Alec's erect penis. Magnus gasped in all of Alec's phallic glory. From all the outlines he had seen he knew it was large, but this couldn't compare to the beauty of what he saw. Never before had Magnus seen such an elegant body part; engorged with blood and stiff as a spear, it was the embodiment of masculinity. The fact that it was surrounded by tufts of dark hair only made Magnus desire it more.

Suddenly, Magnus felt Alec's hand on his own, slowly guiding it to his penis. There, their hands slowly covered it. To Magnus' surprise it was both hard and soft to the touch. Alec let go gently as Magnus began to move slowly up and down the shaft at first. It wasn't long before Alec began to moan deeply and his breathing became increasingly ragged. Eventually, Magnus moved his hand faster up and down the shaft, eliciting more ragged breathing and moaning from Magnus. Between moans and ragged breaths Alec said, "Magnus, I'm going to- I'm going to-" Magnus hushed him and began to move even more vigorously. Before Alec could say another word, he shouted with pleasure "MAGNUS!" and with that released himself everywhere, spewing semen all over Magnus' now stilled hand.

Alec turned a bright shade of pink, he was so embarrassed that his semen now covered Magnus' hand in its entirety. But to his surprise Magnus lifted his hand to his mouth, and slowly licked every last milliliter off his hand, seemingly enjoying every drop. Alec stared at Magnus with wide eyes; he never imagined that someone would do something like that. Magnus just smiled and said, "I couldn't resist tasting you. By the way, you taste delicious."

It took Alec only a moment to recover and realize that Magnus was still extremely aroused. It would be shamefully unfair for Magnus to remain in such a state, especially for him to remain clothed in such a state, Alec thought, and so he picked himself up and threw Magnus down onto the bed with the intentions of returning the favor.

Alec began by deftly and quickly removing the remainder of Magnus' clothing. He too was astonished by the beauty of Magnus' erect penis. An extremely large and shapely object, it begged to be touched. Alec, unwilling to see anything beg for too long obliged most willingly. He began at first by slowly rubbing the base of the shaft up and down, and listening to Magnus moan. All at once an idea happened upon Alec. Though he was entirely without experience, he decided to kiss the tip, to lick it every so lightly. That resulted in Magnus moaning his name loudly and shuddering with pleasure. Knowing that this was giving Magnus immense pleasure confirmed Alec's thoughts; he began to slowly lick and kiss the tip while still slowly but firmly rubbing the base. Then he opened his mouth ever so slightly and enveloped the tip in his lips and sucked a little. Startled by the immense pleasure of the feeling, Magnus gasped loudly. Seeing Magnus' reaction to that, Alec began to put Magnus' penis deeper in his mouth sucking and licking on the way down. Once he was in a comfortable position, Alec began to bob his head up and down Alec's shaft rather slowly, and then gaining speed. Magnus was moaning loudly, shivering with pleasure, and running his fingers delicately through Alec's hair, sometimes tugging ever so gently. As Alec picked up his pace, Magnus started to moan loudly, he began to exclaim "Al-Ale-Alec-ALEXANDER!" and with a powerful spasm, he expelled all his semen in Alec's mouth.

Alec wholeheartedly swallowed everything, giving Magnus a sly wink as he said, "You don't taste so bad yourself."

With that Magnus grabbed Alec into his arms and wrapped him in the blankets whispering, "You're going nowhere tonight."

Eventually their breaths normalized and their heart rates slowed. Then, with the sound of each other's hearts next to their own, they slowly fell asleep in each other's arms.


	19. Chapter 18

**Pandemonium: Chapter 18**_  
As I'm sure you're aware at this point, none of this belongs to me. It belongs to CC. Yeah. Duh. _

* * *

Alec awoke with a start. It was still dark outside and Magnus snored adorably next to him. Then the events of the previous night hit him.

The tempest of the mind blew with the rage of a typhoon. His actions the previous night were more than just out of character; they threatened his very existence. He needed to return immediately, yet at the same time he had no desire to leave the warm ensconce of Magnus' bed, where he felt not only comfortable and relaxed, but also at home. Such conflicting feelings; such different choices. One thing was certain though: he hadn't make his choice any easier. In fact, it was only more difficult now.

Knowing that his absence would be noted if he wasn't in his own bed in the morning, Alec quietly got out of bed and dressed. In order to assuage his guilt for leaving Magnus' bed in such a perfunctory manner, he scribbled a quick note:

_Magnus,  
Terribly sorry I have to leave before the morning, but my absence would be noted. See you in the afternoon.  
With Love,  
Alec_

The terseness of the note disappointed Alec. He didn't have the same was with words that Magnus had, and he didn't have the time to come up with something worth saying.

By the time he made his way back to his rooms in the palace-thankfully somewhat undetected-it was 4 in the morning; he wouldn't be getting any more sleep. He was surprised, again, to find Jace pacing up and down in the antechamber. The look of anxiety on his face confused Alec yet again.

"Where have you been?" Jace asked with snark.

Too tired to reply in kind Alec quietly muttered, "Out with Magnus."

"Oh and is that why your clothes are completely rumpled, your hair is a disaster, your body covered in that horrid glitter, and your scent strongly that of sandalwood?"

Alec glared at Jace and said, through his teeth, "What Magnus and I do with our time is none of your concern."

"Considering that it's my job to protect you," Jace said with some anger, "it actually is; I need to know if he's hurting you in any way."

Alec turned to him and spat, "Magnus would never hurt me-ever. That's not as much as I can say for your beloved, Clary!"

Jace's face paled as he turned away. Alec had struck just the right place. Jace began to move to the door.

"Wait," Alec said, "I didn't mean it like that; it's just..."

"But that's exactly how you meant it; Clary betrayed you-she betrayed all of us. You don't understand what it's like to be in love with someone who's betrayed everyone you know. I just-"

Alec ran over and embraced Jace, for it was the right thing to do. "Sometimes," he said, "you cannot help who you fall in love with; you must let your heart guide you to what is there. I had no right to insult Clary-or by extension you-in that way. For that I apologize."

Jace simply nodded silently in agreement.

* * *

From there the morning was rather uneventful until Alec had a meeting with both Izzy and Clary.

They entered the room with a large stack papers that Alec eyed warily.

"What are those for?" he asked cautiously.

"We need to start planning your Ascension Ball with some more seriousness; it's now two weeks away," replied Clary.

"WHAT!?" shouted Alec, "two weeks? Since when? It was two months away!"

"The old hag changed the date," replied Izzy rather sourly. "If we don't get things done today, it's going to be a disaster."

Alec slammed his hand into his forehead. The Ball required an immense amount of planning, something he didn't think he could do.

"So," Clary said picking up a long list, "we need a theme, a guest list, a menu, decorations, entertainment, outfits, servants, and most importantly, your speech."

"My what?" asked Alec, rather incredulously.

"Your speech, stupid," answered Izzy. "You know, the one the crown prince delivers at his Ascension Ball basically outlining his duties, his royal theory, and all that boring stuff. Haven't you been working on it with Carstairs all this time?"

"No...not really," he softly replied.

"What have you been doing then?" Izzy asked.

"S-s-s-spending time with M-m-magnus." he mumbled.

Izzy rolled here eyes. Then, rather authoritatively, she said, "No more wasting time with Magnus. From now on this ball is your main priority! So, what's your theme!"

Alec sat there and thought pensively for some time. Eventually a light came to his eyes as he said, "The different Cities of Alicante! Each city is separate in its own way, yet they are all connected together in that grand way that makes them one great place. That's my theme."

"Hmph, maybe you're not that stupid after all," Izzy said.

Clary's eyes were wide with excitement. "That's perfect! I can work with that wonderfully. All the decorations and everything will make this amazing."

Izzy rolled here eyes again. "Great, now you need to go see Carstairs and work on that speech of yours. Then you need to go talk to Simon and Magnus-AT THE SAME TIME-so that you can work on a guest list, and don't you dare see Magnus alone till this list is done! After that talk to Jace about security, and then come back to us with some thoughts on the menu, though I think my palate is better suited to deciding food than yours."

Alec almost died of laughter in that moment. "You've got to be kidding me! Your palate? I think I'll talk to the chef myself, and maybe take Clary's opinion."

Izzy simply huffed in anger.

Alec decided that it was best for him to start working on the speech, but before he could leave the room Clary took him aside and said, "When you see Jace, please give him this." It was a letter, tightly folded and sealed with just his first name on it.

"Of course," he said, noticing the red around Clary's eyes and the sad look on her face.

* * *

The meeting with Carstairs was long and arduous. Alec hated the idea of giving a speech in front of all of those people, but he had to, and Carstairs was doing a good job helping him.

The meeting with Jace was much more eventful.

At first it had gone on rather simply; they discussed the basic security measures needed for the ball. As he was about to leave, Alec remembered the letter that Clary had given him. He handed it to Jace who immediately opened it; then things became very interesting.

Silently, Jace ripped the letter to shreds and threw it on the floor in rage. He began to angrily pace the room, fuming.

Meekly, Alec asked, "What-what happened?"

"She says we cant be together because she's 'dangerous' and it's not 'fair to me' and a whole other lot of bullshit. You know; I actually thought she loved me! Instead it's just not working out for her so she breaks up with me. I-I-I" Jace begins to break, "I-I-I want to hate her, but I just can't because-because I love her."

Alec was entirely unsure of what to do in that situation; he had never felt the need to empathize in such a way. Carefully, he did the only logical thing he could think about-hugging Jace. During the hug he made a particular point to ignore the fact that their bodies were pressed together in a certain way. Instead he did his best to work on helping heal his friend. Still rather unsure of what to say, Alec simply told him that it would all be alright, and that when he saw Clary later he would discuss the issue at hand with her.

Jace broke off the embrace, but thanked him quietly. He sat there morose looking for quite some time before Alec pointed out, "It might serve you well to take the rest of the evening off. Let your head cool, and I'll let you know what happens after."

* * *

Alec left the room and quickly moved on to confront Clary.

He barged into the meeting room in a fulminous rage, almost knocking Simon who was on his way out.

Clary simply looked at him. Her eyes made direct contact with his; what Alec saw though, weren't the cruel eyes of a heartless individual or monster; they were deep orbs, red around the edges, filled with the deepest of sorrows. Far within them was the grief that defined humanity; the grief of a heart torn in two. Alec's thunderous anger disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Somewhere in himself, he understood Clary's decision and choice. It was a choice that he had tried to make, a choice that he still considered making.

They sat. Clary took a deep breath, and began:

"I do not begin to presume the anguish that he is feeling right now, nor do I wish to presume that he understands my action. I simply would like to make something known to him: I am weak. It is this weakness that makes me take this action. It is too dangerous for him to be associated with someone so weak. I do this not for hatred or for ambivalence or even for cruelty, but for love. Love desires that we take the difficult actions in life, and this is one such. Everything will be better if we were not together, that has been made amply clear to me. I beseech you to make this clear to him, to tell him that I do love him, but that there is only so much that love can do when all the forces of the universe conspire against it."

With that, she swiftly got up, covered her face, and ran out of the room to avoid being seen whilst sobbing.

Izzy, who had been sitting there the entire time, looked dumbfounded. She looked at Alec and asked, "Did she and Jace..."

Alec only nodded in affirmation. She quickly got up and ran out of the room in the direction of Clary.

* * *

A wave of tiredness came over Alec. His eyelids began to droop considerably and his concentration waned significantly. He carefully trudged up the steps leading to his rooms, and promptly collapsed on his bed. Then the nightmare started:

It was light; not the natural warm light of the sun, but a harsh white light, something so unnatural it burned Alec's eyes. The light was accompanied by that laugh, that horrid deep throaty laugh. Alec shuddered with fear. He dreamed of the light going out. The darkness was much better. He was invisible in the darkness, he could hide from the light, from himself.

Evidently those thoughts were comical to the stranger, the chortling stranger.

The white light intensified, and brought with it an immense heat. A heat so powerful and ferocious that Alec began to perspire profusely. His eyes began to sting from the heat, and his vision slowly dissipated till all he could see was white.

Everything around him was white. His very core began to burn in the power of such a white light, and all around him the same laughter echoed. What schadenfreude possessed this creature is unknown, but the laughter only grew louder as the light grew whiter and more intense. The burning sensation had reached Alec's heart.

He was completely beholden to the light. It showed him as he was and burned him for it. The light encapsulated him in its heat. Alec began to burn brightly. He was ensconced, unable to escape the power. His soul was burning, and voice was laughing. The voice kept on laughing. It never stopped laughing.

* * *

_I stopped and took a breath. The Professor just stared at me. I was about to ask him something when he said, "Take a break, friend. You do not look well." _

_He was right. I was sweating as if I were in a sauna. I went to the restroom where I noticed how pallid my skin had become. _

_I had to finish soon. _

_My calculations were wrong. It was happening faster than I imagined. I have to get the letter ready. I have to prepare myself. I have to tell him the truth. But I cannot. Not yet. The truth would destroy me, as it destroy's me now. The truth is killing me, but it takes its time. Telling him would kill me now, and end the story here. He must know. They must know the truth. _

_I sat back down at the table. In front of me was a glass of water; he had taken the liberty of trying to assist me. As if water, the all purifying substance, could ever purify me of my putrid pestilence. _

_I needed to finish, and I needed to finish soon. I took a large gulp of water, not that it helped, and pointed to the pen. We had to continue. _


	20. Chapter 19

**Pandemonium: Chapter 19**_  
The usual accreditations to those to whom I am indebted are instead replaced by this statement. That statement, however, does not decrease the amount by which I am indebted to those individuals; nor does it attempt to diminish the importance of their works in mine. _

* * *

**A/N: I'm feeling oddly happy today, so you get this chapter super early! If I'm still this happy later today you may get the next chapter too! **

* * *

Alec shot up out of his bed, his eyes bloodshot, still reeling from his nightmare. All of a sudden, Alec felt two warm arms encapsulate him. They felt nice, natural. They smelled faintly of sandalwood.

It was Magnus.

"What," he thought, "was Magnus even doing in his bedroom at this hour?"

Before even asking the question, or even opening his mouth for that matter, he was quickly hushed by Magnus. It took Alec a moment to get over the shock of being in Magnus' arms, and it was after that moment that he felt how cold the world outside was; his body was shaking vigorously from both the cold and the fear.

Again Alec tried to speak, and yet again Magnus did not acquiesce to his request. Rather than let the boy speak, Magnus was going to comfort him in the only way he could: physical contact. He gently kissed Alec on the lips and told him to lie back down. Still shivering, Alec curled back up in the bed where he was covered by a warm blanket and Magnus' body.

Though he was never one to be sappy or good with words, Magnus saw that shivering and afraid Alec needed more than his warm comforting arms; he needed words. Therein, however, was the problem for Magnus. He dithered with his words and pontificated periphrastically. How was he supposed to comfort the boy who would spend his life in the library with words?

Luckily for him, Alec had returned to sleep, though perhaps it was unlucky, for once again Alec was thrashing. He was moving uncontrollably, sweating profusely, moaning in pain, pleading to some unknown object to stop, and covering his ears to block out the noise of that same object. The nightmare had returned.

Magnus balled his fists in rage. This was unacceptable to him; the person he loved most in the world could not-should not suffer such nightmares. The night was certainly dark, but it was not full of terrors. It was the night that let them be together. The night was wonderful, loud, and vivacious. The night was an island of serenity in the insanity of the day that brought them both peace.

Magnus' mind turned to a play he once saw with another person. It was ages ago, a love long lost. He still could recall the warmth that he felt when their skin touched, the softness of touching that hair, the delicate touch of soft lips on his...  
The flashback wasn't the point. Magnus focused on the play, not the person. There had been a passage, something he barely could sense in the recesses of his mind. Perhaps it was something to make Alec feel better. Perhaps another's words could provide the cure that his own couldn't.

With that thought in his mind, Magnus gently shook Alec awake and out of his nightmare. Alec looked at him with those blue orbs surrounded by red, pronounced veins. His hands barely steadied in Magnus' own. The tear ducts looked as if they were ready to spill their contents all over his soft moon-lit face. It was then, right before the tears, that Magnus softly said:

_Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,_  
_Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not._  
_Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments_  
_Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices_  
_That, if I then had waked after long sleep,_  
_Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,_  
_The clouds methought would open and show riches_  
_Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,_  
_I cried to dream again._

Soft tears poured down Alec's face as he stared at Magnus in wonder. Then silently hushed, he was rocked back and forth in Magnus' arms till he softly fell asleep, this time with neither dreams nor nightmares.

* * *

When Alec awoke in the morning, he could feel the light of the sun on his face. His muscles no longer ached and longed for a stretch. It seemed as if the tempest of the mind had finally calmed itself.

Stretching luxuriously in the light of the beautiful morning, his mind ventured to the events of the night before. He had the most peculiar dreams. It was as if his dream cycles were broken in to parts: two horrifying nightmares and two comforting moments where he was being held by Magnus. For a moment, he considered the possibility that the latter of the two parts was in fact real, but the evidence of it ever happening was entirely nonexistent; Magnus was nowhere to be seen, his bed only seemed to have been slept in by one person, and there was no glitter anywhere. The only thing pointing to the dream being real was the faint scent of sandalwood in the air, though that could have been a figment of his imagination missing Magnus or more probable yet, his own scent resembling Magnus since they spent so much time together. The fact that made Alec question the realness of those dreams most though was Magnus' quote. Almost laughing out loud, Alec thought about how unlikely it would be for Magnus to ever quote any piece of literature-it just wasn't his thing-and least of all quoting the Bard himself.

With all the evidence in place, Alec decided rather conclusively that it must have been part of his dreams.

And compared to some of his other recent dreams involving Magnus this was rather conservative to say the least.

Nonetheless, Alec began the day in a happier mood than normal. Well, happier in the sense that he wasn't entirely miserable. That was until he had yet another encounter with her glorious majesty Queen Charlotte.

"You're late boy!" She snapped, and took Alec by surprise. Gone was the cockney old lady and in her place was the bratty old aristocrat well past her prime.

"How's that ascension ball planning going? Good I suppose. Your type are supposed to have an eye for that sort of thing, decorations and what not."

"M-m-m-my type?" Alec asked waveringly.

"Don't stutter boy, it's unbecoming of a Prince and future King! You have a type? I hope your type is that redhead Morgenstern girl. I'm not about to lose an alliance with the Baron. He owns half our treasury as it is!"

Alec was extremely confused at this point. Perhaps he had imagined it, though it seemed unlikely; he was almost certain that the Queen was alluding to his proclivities, yet when pressed she refrained from making a comment and moved on.

"Lost in your thoughts, boy?" She asked whilst cackling a bit. "Not surprising. I heard you prefer the company of books to people."

"Your Majesty, I-"

"I'd rather not hear your platitudes at this time. I have better things to do than worry about your problems. Here's what I'm going to say to you simply: the day of your ascension ball I'm going to announce your betrothal to the Morgenstern girl."

Alec looked downcast and said, "Of course, Your Majesty."

"Good. Now get out of here and do whatever it is you do. Visit that friend Moncrieff of yours or something. I hear he has a serious case of pentapox."

Alec simply bowed and left the room. It was odd that the queen would say those two things in such a short while. It was as if she was goading him into not making a choice between the two things that he valued most in life: his duty and his love. Either she was completely insane or utterly brilliant; unfortunately, nobody would ever be able to know the truth.

Alec then spent a number of hours mulling over the queen's supposed insanity and/or intelligence, but to no avail. Luckily, it prevented him from being bludgeoned to death by boredom on what looked to be an entirely uneventful day.

Of course that idea was completely incorrect; no day was ever going to be entirely uneventful, and this one kept to that universal rule.

On his way to yet another meeting with some feckless noble begging for some inane favor, Alec's ears picked up soft whispers coming from the tiny niches in the hallway. Immediately, his eyebrows raised suspiciously and his lips pursed, for in front of him stood Jace and Simon deep in some conversation, both trying to look inconspicuous. Alec gently folded his arms and stared at them intently. For some reason he desired to know the contents of the conversation, probably because he assumed it was going to be about him, but perhaps also because the two of them had exchanged nary a word before and now they were enthralled in conversation.

As it turned out, Alec was not very good at making himself inconspicuous, so his eavesdropping was quickly noticed by Jace, who then said "We're not talking about you, Alec. We're talking about _her_."

Of course they were. Jace would try to find things out about Clary and he would go to Simon, who was not only someone who knew all the nobility well, but was also the closest thing Clary had to a real friend.

Simon, meekly as always, decided it was best for him to speak: "I was just telling Jace that Clary probably still really likes him and that her reason for doing that probably has something to do with her father."

Jace, still somewhat unconvinced said, "I doubt she feels that way. I was probably just some passing fancy, some thing she could entertain herself with."

Alec looked down at the floor, and said, "Well it's somewhat about her father... it's just that he's forcing her to do something-to marry someone. The queen is forcing her to do that too."

Simultaneously Simon and Jace exclaimed, "WHAT!? WHO?!"

Alec refrained from looking up. He noticed that the floor had quite a bit of dust on it, and that his shoes needed a good polish. Finally after what seemed like an eon he quietly mumbled, "Me."

Alec had only seconds to shut his eyes before he found himself on the floor writhing in pain.

Immediately after hearing Alec's revelation, Simon had started blathering on incessantly about forced marriage laws and something about bad noble practices-generally stuff that neither Alec nor Jace actually cared about. Jace on the other hand was completely silent, utterly devoid of comment. Not a single witty thing came out of his mouth, which was entirely surprising because he always had a retort.

In those seconds that was the first thing that worried Alec, so naturally he lifted his head from the ground. Bad move.

What Alec saw in Jace's eyes is best described as the combination of rage, hurt, rage, betrayal, and more pure, unadulterated rage.

It was no surprise then, that Alec saw Jace's fists balled up at his sides. Unwilling to fight his friend, he simply closed his eyes waiting for the fist to land on his face. He deserved it for not telling him beforehand.

And so there was Alec lying on the floor, hand over his eye in pain. By that time Simon had returned from planet legalese and stared at the two of them dumbfoundedly.

Not that it mattered to Alec of course, who at this point was seeing stars and trying to regain his balance to get up again. In fact, by the time he got up a minute later everything seemed to be fine, except the dull throb around his left eye that would undoubtedly be a bruise by the morning.

The better reaction came from Jace, who started by apologizing profusely and doing his best to get a good look at Alec's eye. In fact, in his profuse apology he accepted the fact that not only was he going to be fired from his job but that in all likelihood he would be charged with the battery of the Crown Prince and then summarily thrown in jail for the rest of his life. At this point Alec decided to interrupt him.

Alec then calmly and collectedly said, "You're not going to jail because I'm pretty sure I deserved that. Now if both of you won't mind, I'm going to go upstairs and lie down since my head is hurting. Simon, please cancel all my appointments for the day and tell them I'm feeling indisposed. Jace, accompany me upstairs."

Despite their initial surprise at Alec's somewhat cheerful, commanding tone, the two of them parted ways and obliged immediately. While Alec and Jace didn't do much talking on the way to his chambers, once they made it to Alec's rooms, they had a serious conversation about Clary.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, I just wasn't sure how to." Alec said.

"Even still, that doesn't merit getting punched in the face."retorted Jace.

"I'd disagree with you on that, especially since it's my face. But I think I have good news for you."

"Well I know now that she definitely does like me, so it can't be much better."

"When Simon was rambling I realized I should probably just convince the queen that Clary loves someone else and that marrying her would be a mistake for me because I can't marry someone that doesn't love me."

"And you think that would work?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?"

Jace would have liked to respond to that statement, unfortunately he at that moment, found himself lying on the floor seeing stars.

While the two of them were on their way up to Alec's rooms, Simon had done what he was supposed to do: cancel Alec's appointments. Unfortunately one of those meetings had been with Magnus, so naturally, he did the only thing he could think of: run upstairs to see how Alec was doing. Upon seeing Alec's bruised eye and hearing about the punch from Jace's own mouth, Magnus did what was entirely expected of him. Thus Jace was lying on the floor in pain, seeing stars, Alec was staring at Magnus with an odd mixture of adoration and horror, and Magnus felt the need to hold Alec in his arms for the next few hours despite the fact that Alec wasn't really that hurt.

It was in this situation that Izzy and Clary found their friends. Naturally Izzy's only response was to laugh haughtily at the situation, while Clary only looked at Jace with horror and sadness. After her good laugh, Izzy saw the looks that Clary and Jace were giving each other; she could hear the words unspoken between them; she could feel the tension mounting in the air as they were ready to explode. Considering the importance of such a conversation on their relationship, she pushed the two of them into Alec's bedroom and promptly landed herself on the couch precariously placed between Alec and Magnus.

"So" she snarked, "someone finally decided to sock you in the face?"

"Sad it wasn't you?" retorted Alec.

"Devastated. It's always been a life goal of mine."

Alec's only response was to roll his eyes at her and turn away. Izzy, graceful as always, turned to him and stuck out her tongue.

"Ahem," interrupted Magnus, "while I'm sure you'd love to continue this-uh-sibling love, I'd like to take a look at my boyfriend."

Izzy unwillingly got up and moved to a different couch leaving Magnus to scoot over next to Alec and stare at his slowly bruising face.

"You know," he said smiling, "the black and blue around your eyes really works well with your hair. You don't look half bad like this."

Alec pushed Magnus back and scowled.

Magnus laughed again and said, "Well now that's not fair! You can't put your lips in that shape in front of me, it's simply too tantalizing. I have no self control."

And with that he proceeded to softly plant his lips on Alec's.

They proceeded to kiss, softly at first, but then with more and more ferocity, even beginning to tug at their clothes when Izzy interrupted, "Get a room!"

Magnus rolled his eyes and retorted, "We would, but the one we were planning on using is currently occupied because of you darling, so sit back and enjoy the show." He leaned in to kiss Alec again, but Alec decided that this wasn't something he wanted his sister seeing, so naturally he stopped Magnus.

This time Magnus pouted and huffed haughtily saying, "Alexander you little incubus! This is entirely unfair."

Alec, suddenly feeling rather tired, leaned into Magnus' shoulder and rested his head. His eyes slowly began to droop, when he heard a door open.

Out of that door walked Jace and Clary. They were holding hands and seemed happy. They gracefully sat down together; Clary said, "We've decided to make this work somehow. I'm ready to face my father and I think he'll relent to me. I mean power can't mean more to him than his only daughter, right?"

Magnus, Izzy, and Jace nodded in unison smiling broadly. Clary looked to Alec for affirmation, but noticed that he was soundly asleep on Magnus' shoulder.

Chuckling softly, Magnus said, "Well that's nice and all, but I think it's time you all left. I'm going to put my boyfriend to bed and then probably stay there with him doing all kinds of scandalous things."

Jace's jaw dropped, but Clary and Izzy just laughed. Before giving Jace a chance to protest, they dragged him out of the room saying something about how Alec would need his rest before visiting some sick friend in the countryside.

* * *

Alec felt as light as a feather. He was simultaneously soaring in the sky and diving deep in the sea. The entire time, Magnus was there with him. They smiled in the sunshine and traversed the sky and sea with finesse and prowess.

Then Magnus said he had to leave. Alec tried to protest, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth. He thought he felt Magnus kiss him softly on the head and then disappear from the sky and sea.

Alec was there alone. He flew and swam for a few more minutes.

Then it ended. He plummeted out of the sky; the ground reached up from underneath him and claimed him on the sharp jagged rocks. The sea dried underneath the oppressive heat of the sun; the sand sucked him in, deeper and deeper until he ceased to exist.

It was dark again. It was always dark.

* * *

_I began to cough a sputter again. The air was barely reaching my lungs. I stopped and took a gulp of water. The Professor stared at me with wide eyes filled with worry. I motioned with my hand that I was fine. He looked entirely unconvinced. _

_Still, he moved on and asked, "How is it that we know the contents of Prince Alexander's dreams and nightmares?" _

_I looked at him blankly for a minute. He was asking me for my source on the information. I should have known this would happen eventually. Still, the timing isn't right for that. It's still too early. _

_I had to reply, "Some of it is written as a first hand account from Alec himself; most of it, though, was written by an ancestor of mine; she had-ah-intimate knowledge of the events involved." _

_Before being able to continue, I began to sputter again. The cough was more violent this time. I was heaving. My lungs felt like they were going to implode. I noticed that there was blood in the phlegm. The end was almost near. _

_I noticed in all my heaving, that there were black spots in my vision. I saw the Professor's dark eyes boring holes into my own with concern and consternation. Then my body and mind gave way. I collapsed. _


	21. Chapter 20

**Pandemonium: Chapter 20**_  
Naturally I must point out that I am extremely indebted to Cassandra Clare for her wonderful characters; furthermore, I must also express my gratitude to a number of other authors and creators for their works, especially William Shakespeare, whose play __The Tempest__ was featured rather prominently last chapter. _

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**A/N: Wow I cannot believe it's already Chapter 20! Looking towards future publications I can say a couple of things: 1) My pace has slowed down considerably, so things may not be published as often as they used to be. 2) The plot is about to get much, much, much thicker, and a whole slew of new characters (well they're not technically new per se, but new to this story) are going to be introduced. 3) We are approximately half way through the story, so yeah.  
Thank you all for your support with this!**

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_I awoke to find the professor staring over at me. The sun was low in the windows; a few hours must have passed. I was lying in my bed. Someone got me up here. He looked at me with worry deeply set in his brow. He cleared his throat and said, "I do not think it wise for us to proceed until you are better." _

_I smiled at him as broadly as I could. I slowly picked myself up and braced my back against the pillows behind me, then I whispered, "I will not be getting better any time soon. I think it is wise for us to proceed as quickly as possible." _

_He stared at me in a bewildered state for a few moments. Then something came over him, perhaps in that moment he realized my predicament; I do not know, and I doubt that I will ever. _

_Someone had moved over a table and a chair so that he could sit. His paper was empty and ready for us to continue. Clearly that had been his purpose. He sat down and picked up his pen. I took a deep breath and began, whispering_

* * *

When Alec woke up in the morning he felt an emptiness both within and without. The without part was easier; Magnus had, at some point in the night, left his bed and probably gone back to his own. The within part, while more difficult to discern, came to him pretty easily; these nightmares were draining him of energy and focus. He needed to find a way to stop them, and one that preferably didn't involve skipping more hours of sleep, despite the fact that it was always a possibility.

In addition to his desire for some food and water, Alec needed to see Magnus. So naturally after taking care of the first two needs, he made his way down to Magnus' meeting rooms in the palace.

It was a bit surprising to Alec that he missed Magnus so. It had only been a few hours since he had seen him last, though he regretted falling asleep so immediately that evening. Still, it was the idea of seeing Magnus so soon that put a little bounce in Alec's step and a wide grin on his face. He basically skipped happily down the entire way to Magnus' rooms, only slowing down as he entered the hallway and got to the door.

Interestingly enough, there were voices coming from the main room-the room in which they first kissed. As he approached the door he could discern that there were only two people in the room: some woman and Magnus. They were speaking rather quietly, so a naturally curious Alec opened the door.

As it turned out they weren't doing much talking. They were kissing.

Alec's jaw slackened as the grin that was previously on his face quickly dissolved into an open mouth stare. His eyes darkened considerably. His skin became a deathly pallor of white. His throat constricted. Where words, words of anger, rage, betrayal, and sadness, ought to be there was nothing but stark silence, the same silence that often enveloped him in the darkness of his nightmares.

Magnus, whose eyes until this point-which was only really a second in the making-were shut, opened them quickly; at first the only thing that was there was astonishment, though Alec didn't register this, but then they quickly noticed Alec standing in the doorway and became apologetic immediately. At that point, though, it was too late. Too much had happened. He did his best to push the woman, a gorgeous blonde with green eyes, off of him, but to little avail. She seemed determined to continue the kiss.

Finally after about a few moments, Magnus was able to push her off.

"Maggie darling," she said, "why ever did you stop?"

He paid her no attention what so ever; instead, he turned to Alec and said, "T-t-t-this is not what it looks like."

Alec said nothing and continued to stare at Magnus, though color began to move towards a lighter shade of pink.

The woman turned around.

She grinned conspicuously and said, "Oh I'm so sorry. I didn't know we were going to have visitors. If Maggie had told me, I never would have done anything so brash."

Giggling a little, she quickly kissed Magnus on the cheek and exited the room in a flourish of fabric.

Alec's face at this point was the deep red of a beat. He couldn't help but feel the need to both cry and scream at the same time. He did neither though; instead he stared right at Magnus and asked the only question on his mind, "Who?"

Magnus looked down at the floor. He shuffled his feet awkwardly for a few moments and then said, "Her name is Camille Belcourt, and she is-a-a-a friend."

To that Alec nearly gawked. _She would disagree with that statement, _he irately thought. Though of course, he continued to say nothing.

At first Magnus did nothing but mumble incoherently about how this was a large mistake and how Alec was getting the wrong impression and how his past with Camille meant nothing.

By mentioning his past with her, Magnus had inadvertently gotten Alec's attention in a very very bad way. The look of astonishment and betrayal in Alec's eyes clearly indicated his desire to extricate himself from the situation and from Magnus forever. This was far too much for him to take in at the moment.

As Alec slowly began to back up out of the room, he turned his head away and tried his best not to look at Magnus. And unsurprisingly that was his choice; Magnus was now lying on the cold hard ground, crying and begging Alec to forgive him and to stay to hear everything.

Knowing that if he stayed he would probably give in against his better nature, Alec make the hardest decision of his life-at the point-and left the room slowly.

He trudged up the steps in an uncaring manner. His feet barely made proper contact with the narrow winding staircase. More than once he almost fell and crashed to the ground. He didn't care. Falling would have been easy, simple, reasonable even. He had shamed himself, done sinful acts, and besmirched the named of his family for an eternity all for a man who wantonly kissed someone else. The shame, suffering, and ignominy of existing was too much. Letting himself fall and ending the existence was simpler and much more appealing as he slowly dragged his body up the stairs.

The only thing that stopped him from throwing himself down the flight of stairs to his death was the thought of Izzy, who would have been completely lost without him. With such a thought in his mind, he did the only acceptable thing and survived for that day.

Barging into his room, he slammed the door shut and threw himself onto the bed. With his heart shattered into a thousand different pieces he did the only thing that was left to do: cry.

* * *

Somehow for the better part of a few hours nobody seemed to notice that Alec was not running around the palace. In fact it wasn't until later in the afternoon that Izzy decided it was best to find her brother and drag him out of bed. With her she took the rather inseparable Jace and Clary along with Simon. The boys were there to hoist him from the bed if necessary; Clary just sort of came as a packaged deal now with Jace.

When they tired to open the door they found that it was locked and no noise was coming from within. At first they stood around a knocked repetitively for a few minutes. Then of course, they got very worried because there was no real reason for the door to be locked. Jace broke the door open with a bit of a thud, and they all rushed inside to see where Alec was.

They found him lying on his bed mute and staring at the blank ceiling in front of him. The room was in complete disarray. Alec had ripped all his clothes and thrown them around; he had also destroyed his lamp and a number of other fixtures in the room. There were also the feathers from one of his pillows which appeared completely destroyed.

Upon seeing his friends, Alec turned over on to his side and angrily growled, "Get away from me."

Of course with an attitude like that they all did the exact opposite thing. In fact, Izzy sat on his bed (which illicited an even angrier growl from Alec) and asked rather courteously, "What's wrong?"

Alec said nothing and continued to angrily stare into the distance.

At this point, Clary asked them all to leave the room. Jace tried to protest, but was quickly silenced with a look from her. She said that she needed to speak to him alone about something.

After a few moments of silent glaring from Izzy and confused muttering from Jace and Simon, they all left Clary alone in the room with Alec.

"So," she said, "why did you leave him?"

Upon hearing this from Clary, Alec turned to look at her; his eyes were bloodshot from the tears, and the bruise around his left eye was doing nothing to help the situation. He pulled himself up so that he was now sitting on the bed. Looking at her quizzically, he asked, "How did you know?"

Clary just smiled softly. "I had the same reaction after our conversation about Jace."

Alec let out a deep breath. He closed his eyes and steeled himself in preparation for the explanation. Then slowly, he began:

"I left this morning in a good mood. I wanted to see Magnus. Just to see him, maybe kiss him, nothing more. It was going to be a short pleasant visit in the morning before we got ready for all the day's work. As I was walking to his office, I heard voices. They were muffled and soft, but I entered anyway. I mean what could he have to hide, right? Well it turns out the answer is a lot. There was this woman-this blonde. She was all over him like Jace and his breakfast. When she finally stopped she called Magnus "Maggie" and barely blushed as she left. Then Magnus told me that they had some sort of a relationship in the past. He tried to explain and beg and what not. I just left before he got to me. Now I'm here and it's over."

Clary stood silently for a minute and said nothing. Then, softly she said, "Perhaps it might be good for you to hear his explanation first?"

Alec's face darkened. Angrily he said, "I know what I saw, and that doesn't need any explanations."

Clary said nothing to that, but had a look of disdain on her face. She then asked, "Do you still...?"

"Love him?" Alec completed her sentence. "I don't know. I'm not sure. I think so, but I don't even know what love is anymore. He said he loved me, but that meant nothing obviously. The worst part of this wasn't losing him; it was losing myself."

"Well," Clary said, "you're going to have to tell them. And more importantly you're going to have to work with him until the ascension ball at least; after that you're free to get rid of him."

Alec groaned with pain upon hearing that. Facing Magnus again would be an impossible task. Facing his friends, however, was going to be much easier now.

He got up from his bed, went to the washcloset and splashed cold refreshing water on his face, allowing him to refocus his energy on getting the next task done. He walked into the room and sat down on the couch. Upon entering the hushed speculative conversation that Izzy, Jace, and Simon were having (and oddly enough Izzy and Simon were sitting rather close together on a couch much like he and Magnus were a just the day before) abruptly ended. Alec took a deep breath and began:

"I found Magnus kissing some blonde woman this morning in his office. She walked away unabashedly and he confirmed that they had a prior relationship. He tried to apologize and make amends, but I left before he had the chance. We're done. It's over. I had the inclination that something like this might happen the first time I saw him. It was never something he did or said; it was just that feeling that I had. I don't think I'll ever have that feeling again, but I don't think I ever should."

Jace and Izzy simultaneously stood up, fists balled in rage and seethed, "I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" They immediately huffed and moved towards the door, Clary and Simon trying to stop them. It was basically to no avail, until Alec stood up and softly said, "Stop."

"This is something I have to deal with myself. I can't just go around having everyone who breaks my heart killed."

Jace laughed and snarked, "Isn't that what being a prince is about, though?"

Alec's lips slightly curved upwards in what could have possibly been marginally construed as a smile. Then with the same heavy tone he said, "I need him to still work for me till the ascension ball. Then I tell him that I no longer need his services, and he leaves us forever. End of the story. We both live happily ever after, apart."

From outside the door they heard a muffled cry and then the sound of someone running down the stairs. Jace was able to pull the door open just in time to see spiked black hair and too tight trousers running down the stairs. Still seething, he shouted, "That's right, you run coward! Next time I won't give him a chance to be this nice to you!"

He then walked back into the room and told them of what he had seen.

Alec simply shook his head and told them to get Carstairs; they were going to have to figure out a way to have Magnus still work for Alec while not actually having any contact with him whatsoever. Alec sat down, breathed heavily and tried to calm his fraying nerves.

At that point Magnus had finally made his way out of the palace entirely and into his household. To his ultimate surprise, he found Camille sitting there on his favorite chair, petting his cat Chairman Meow whilst twiddling her idle fingers on the armrest.

With enough venom in his voice to kill a herd of elk Magnus said, "What are you doing here?"

"Well," she said, "we were interrupted before I could tell you why I came back in the first place! I figured we needed a more private place to complete our conversation...and yes, I did mean that in a suggestive manner."

"Just spit it out and leave," he seethed.

"Fine," she retorted coldly, "if you're so willing to get rid of me, then I'll just let you know. I left two years ago because I was too ashamed to tell you or anyone. I had to go to the countryside for a while because our actions caused-no created a bit of an issue for me."

Magnus looked at her with a puzzled look in his eyes, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Maggie dear, we have a son."


	22. Chapter 21

**Pandemonium: Chapter 21**_  
Like all other times I would like to give credit to Cassandra Clare for her wonderful characters. Also thanks to the other creators whose work I sortof steal to make mine better because mine sucks in reality._

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**Enjoyed the cliff hanger did you? I thought it was a nice way to end that chapter. Muahahahahahahaha! Anyway, I just wanted to point out that last chapter had a song associated with it. I didn't notice it, but I basically took a good part of that song and made it the plot for that chapter. If you can guess that song and its artist correctly in the reviews I will give you a sneak peak of a future chapter! So review away, children! Hint: the first reference to this is early-ish in the chapter and is a lyric from the song. **

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Magnus just stared at Camille with wide eyes and hanging jaw.

In utter disbelief he said, "What?!"

Camille rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner and retorted, "You heard me Maggie dear. We have a son. His name is Benedict and he lives with me just outside of the city."

Magnus, who had been standing up to that point, nearly collapsed onto the couch that was just luckily placed behind him. His head fell in between his legs and he sat there motionless and soundless for a good five minutes. Eventually, he was able to bring his head up to face Camille; his face had paled considerably and it seemed as if he was going to hurl. He then timidly asked, "How?"

Camille let out a full, extensive, and thorough laugh. She pursed her lips suggestively and said, "I think you Magnus, of all people, know how exactly this came to be. I'd rather not have to explain the physics to you, but shall we say certain actions of ours were the cause of this."

Magnus' lips formed a thing angry line and his eyes became tiny slits of rage. "If I recall correctly, at the time of your departure I was not the only person with whom you were engaging in those certain actions. You have no proof that the boy is mine."

Camille's thin smile quickly turned into a deep scowl, rather coldly she said, "That may be true, but I think it's rather undeniable where the parentage lies. He has your eyes."

Magnus scoffed at this; he looked at her with pity and said, "And how many of the other men you were going around with have heard this story? What have you tried to extort from them in return for keeping this little secret silent. In fact, I wonder if this boy even exists at all, or it's all a ruse to make you rich. It wouldn't be beneath a creature like you to do such an audacious thing."

Camille turned scarlet with rage. Irately she said, "Well then, I'll just tramp him around the city then and people will make their own judgements about his parentage. Especially that delicious Prince Alexander of yours. Oh Maggie dear, you always had an inclination towards pretty boys. It's a pity you broke this one's heart too, just like you broke-"

"Don't you dare say his name!" Magnus shouted. "Bring the boy here to me, and then I will judge whether or not he is mine. Then we'll discuss what you want out of all of this. Now leave and go back to the abyss from whence you came."

Haughtily, Camille released Chairman Meow and marched out of his house, saying, "Well then Maggie-poo, I'll bring your son to you, but don't forget our unfinished business."

Magnus buried his head in his hands again. Everything he had tried to build with Alec was done, over with, destroyed. Alec didn't want to hear anything; he didn't want to see him or talk to him. Alec was going to use him to the ends that he needed and then dispose of him thereafter; Magnus may have been worried about the boy's inability to be a ruthless prince, but Alec was proving to be plenty Machiavellian. It was as if him kissing Camille was the excuse Alec needed to end the relationship that he was too disgusted to come to terms with.

Magnus shook his head and banished those thoughts from his head. Alec wasn't some Machiavellian prince; he was nothing like the rest of them; they were in love, and he had betrayed his trust by not telling him about his past-about Camille and the others.

Getting up from his seat on the couch, Magnus walked over to the bookshelf where he hid the bottle of cognac and the glasses. After pouring himself a more than sufficient amount, he sat down on his chair and gently patted Chairman Meow's head. The Chairman simply purred and nuzzled Magnus. At that, Magnus felt the warm salty tears run down his face. Sniffling he said, "Well Chairman, at least you're still here."

Clearly understanding Magnus' emotions, Chairman purred more and curled up on his lap, nestling his soft body to Magnus' stomach. Still crying and sipping the cognac slowly, Magnus simply sat with Chairman Meow and contemplated his mistakes.

He didn't know how many hours had past, the sun had long set and he was thoroughly inebriated, muttering inconsistently to Chairman Meow about apologizing to some blue eyes beauty or disappearing elsewhere. At one point he even mentioned cutting his wrists to change Chairman's white fur into a "delicious red." Of course he could barely get up in his stupor, so that didn't come to pass.

It was in this state that Clary found him. He hadn't notice her enter the room at all. Upon noticing the red haired girl in his room, he let out a throaty laugh and said, "Ah Lady Morgenstern! Spy to the Baron and Scourge of Goldie-Locks! To what do I owe this imponderable pleasure?"

Clary rolled her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that Magnus was entirely drunk. Looking at him with a combination of pity and disgust she said, "It might help you to know that he still loves you. He hates you right now and doesn't want to see or speak to you, but he still loves you. It might help if you wrote him a letter, gave him some space, and offered to tell him the truth; the whole truth."

Magnus chuckled at the suggestion. He said, "If he ever learned the entire truth he would be so disgusted I'd be thrown out of Alicante. I'm 19 years old, Clary and some of the things I've done do not make me a good person. That's the sacrifice one makes for living alone my entire life."

Clary stared at him inquisitively, expecting further explanation. She didn't get anything. At that point, Chairman Meow jumped off Magnus' lap and went away. Magnus, far too drunk to do anything, got up and collapsed immediately back into his chair. Then Clary, the only other person currently in the large house was forced to drag his large and heavy body up to his bed. As she was undressing him for bed she said, "Well I can see what Alec sees in you physically..."

To that Magnus gave a light chuckle. Unfortunately that light chuckle turned into a cough and that cough became Magnus vomiting everything all over the silk carpet. A further disgusted Clary handed him a glass of water and set about getting rid of the vomit. By the time it was done Magnus was softly snoring on his back. Knowing that this was a dangerous position to sleep in, she shifted his body so that he was on his side. She left a glass of water on the table and a note that read, "Don't bother coming to the palace for a few days. Carstairs will tell you when it is acceptable for you to return."

With that she secretly returned to the palace where she was immediately attacked by both Jace and Izzy. Izzy, taking control of this situation, asked, "And where were you just now at such a late hour?" Clary lied and said that she had gone for a walk. Jace looked at her with disappointment and said, "That was a very long walk, and you smell of cognac and vomit."

Neither in the mood to argue nor in the mood to come up with further lies, Clary callously retorted, "I went to see Magnus to tell him not to show up tomorrow or until Carstairs talked to him. He was drunk so I put him to bed with a glass of water. He threw up all over his carpet so I cleaned it up. Next time I'll let you know, okay Vati and Mutti?" She then stormed off angrily to her rooms.

* * *

By the time Magnus woke up the next morning, the sunlight was streaming through his windows; it was mid-afternoon. The light was extremely bothersome; in fact everything was extremely bothersome. He only wanted to crawl into a dark cool space and hide away from the world until his head ended the ceaseless pain that it was in. Unfortunately, the dark crevices that he normally used for the occasion were currently filled to the brim with various paraphernalia that dealt with pre-Alec aspects of his life. It took him fifteen minutes to realize that there was a glass of water next to him on the bed (and he realized at that point that he desperately needed it) and a note. The note was from Clary. It was terse and rude.

At first, Magnus had no idea why the note was even there. Then everything from the day before came rushing back to his head. The kiss, the child, Camille, and worst of all Alec. The look in those blue eyes as his heart broke was too much for Magnus. Perhaps it was the pain of his head or the pain of having ruined the first good relationship of his life, but Magnus began to bawl uncontrollably. For the remainder of the day and the night Magnus stayed in a disheveled state in bed. He rarely got up to do anything but eat a little and take care of bodily functions.

* * *

Alec it turns out was much better at dealing with heartbreak than Magnus was. Or at least he was much better at concealing it. That evening Alec had rushed to bed and slept somewhat soundly. At least this time there were no nightmares. In the morning he woke up feeling neither refreshed nor tired. Everything bland and empty. The food didn't taste that good; the sounds were glossed over in the background as uneventful and useless; even the colors around him seemed muted and dull. Rather than dwell on his feelings of emptiness, Alec did the only other logical thing: fill the emptiness with work.

And work he did. Extensively in fact.

Everyone, except Carstairs who seemed somewhat unperturbed by the entire situation, was extremely surprised by Alec's amazing change in work ethic. He worked silently and diligently for the entirety of the day. He barely spoke to anyone beyond that which was required. He ate his meals alone. He slept soundly and quietly at the appropriate hour-not a minute earlier nor a minute later. All the regimen, the robotic insistency on work, progress, and efficiency, was for one sole purpose: forgetting Magnus.

Alec surprised himself with how effective his method truly was. By the second day after the breakup he was so driven in his work that he met with more important people in one day than he had in a week previously; he had also done an excellent job organizing and engaging in the planning for his ascension ball. The best part of not having Magnus around was the clarity in his thoughts; he was utterly devoid of distractions. The world around him didn't exist.

That all changed the morning of the third day after the breakup.

In the morning at their normal meeting Carstairs finally asked the question that was burning on everyone else's mind: "Is it appropriate to have Mr. Bane return?"

Alec, who was in the middle of a sip of water, took a moment to swallow. Then he quietly but monotonously said, "I suppose he has to return eventually. I would not like to engage with him directly though. Perhaps you could act as our intermediary?"

Carstairs nodded with a soft smile, acknowledging that this was the best option.

"Well you ought to go let him know then." Alec told Carstairs. And with that Carstairs left to bring Magnus to the palace.

* * *

Magnus had, in the past two days done nothing different from the previous day. He had remained in a depressed state in bed for the duration of the day, crying whenever he felt like it and barely eating. The only thing that he did besides that and take care of various bodily functions was to make sure that Chariman Meow was fed. At some point in the two days it had occurred to him that Camille had never come back with the boy that was supposed to be his. Not that it mattered. Everything was ruined now.

Well of course that wasn't true; if there's one adage that Magnus should have subscribed to it was the idea that "Things can always get worse." Because in this case they did. They got much worse.

On the morning of the third day, Magnus was actually feeling somewhat better about living. He figured that at some point Carstairs would come to collect him and bring him back to the palace to get work done, so it was probably best to have a semblance of sanity around him. That day he washed and prepared himself for that eventuality.

Then he heard a knock on the door. With some excitement in his gait, Magnus walked over to the door and swung it open.

Unfortunately, the kind face of Carstairs was not that which awaited him there.

He was met with the cold stare of a green-eyed Camille, and from behind her poked the head of a little two-year old boy.


	23. Chapter 22

**Pandemonium: Chapter 22**_  
So all the special thanks to CC for creating this stuff, you know. _

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**AN: Last week was a bit slow, so I got to post a lot; this week is actually extremely busy, so this is probably it for the week. Sorry... Happy Mean Girls Day, though! **

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Magnus scowled with disapproval. She was purposely hiding the boy's eyes from her sight. From all he could tell the boy didn't look much like him at all. His hair was a fair blonde, much like that of Camille's. Upon entering the household the boy, who was still hidden behind his mother, muttered something incomprehensible about "finally finding the right daddy." That confirmed all of Magnus' suspicions; Camille had been to every single person who could possibly have been the father of that boy to extort money or something else in exchange for their silence. She would get no such thing from him.

The boy finally sat down on the couch away from his mother. Magnus, who had a soft spot for children which he never liked to publish, gently kneeled down in front of the boy and got a good look at him. With a sigh of relief, Magnus saw that the boy's face was shaped much differently from his own, that his eyes were wide and round, not almond shaped like his, and most importantly of all they were the same emerald as Camille's, not the gold-flecked forest green that he sported in his own eyes. His demeanor was unlike anything he had ever seen in a child though, he acted with the utmost propriety and silence. In fact the boy seemed more pensive than Magnus himself. He had only seen one other person with such a shy personality, but that person was supposed to be banished from his thoughts.

As if Magnus could ever banish Alec from his thoughts.

Nonetheless, with a victorious smile on his face Magnus looked right at Camille and gleefully pronounced, "He's not mine."

Camille, knowing that this would be the result, seethed in rage. "You have no way of proving that it isn't. You can't deny that you and I participated in the act that created him and nine months after that act he appeared."

Magnus smiled wryly and said, "That may be true, but I can prove that you engaged in that act with a number of other individuals, and so you, again, have no conclusive proof."

Camille bared her teeth in a devilish smile and said, "Too bad I gave him your last name, Maggie dear."

As if on cue, the boy spoke in a chipper little voice and said, "My name is Benedict Bane, are you, sir, my father, Mr. Bane?"

The innocence in those eyes was too much for Magnus. For a moment, he even contemplated taking charge of the child regardless of his parentage. The boy would live a better life with him than with Camille. But he knew that raising a child, regardless of whether or not he was the parent, was a terrible idea; then with a bit of sadness Magnus said, "I am Mr. Bane, but I'm not your father. I'm just an old friend of your mother's."

With his head slumping down towards his knees, the boy simply said, "Yes, sir. Of course, sir."

Of course it wasn't beyond Camille to teach the child that this was his last name for the current moment. He wondered in fact how many last names the boy had donned since learning how to speak. At least seven. That was the number of men that Magnus had as evidence of Camille's infidelity.

Even though Magnus felt pity for the boy, he knew better than to keep him around the household, especially if Carstairs were to show up. Instead he kindly asked Camille what she wanted.

Rolling her eyes, she snarkily said, "He gets to keep your useful last name and you pay me 200 a month for his well being. In exchange for this, I go back to the countryside never to be seen again, and that precious Prince Alexander of yours never finds out about us. I'll send a letter telling him how kissing you was some big mistake because I thought you were willing to accept me after all this time. And I demand 1000 in advance now."

Magnus let out a puff of air. This was a difficult choice; he didn't want to tacitly support the boy and Camille, but the thought of having Camille help him get back in Alec's good graces was too much to pass on. With some reluctance, Magnus left the room and went to get the requisite cash.

When he arrived, he found that Carstairs had entered the room and was talking quietly to the boy. He barely caught word of the conversation before it was cut off, but he could understand two words, "father" and "Bane." Magnus' heart had skipped a beat; what lies had the boy just told Carstairs? They would, no doubt, be directly reported to Alec, who would then never forgive him ever again. To make things worse, Camille simply stood in the corner smiling excitedly as the two interacted.

Magnus angrily shoved the money in her hands, telling her "This changes nothing. The deal is still on." Then he ordered her to leave. Sitting down and pouring himself a glass of cognac, he asked Carstairs, "What lies did the boy tell you?"

Carstairs, with a disappointed look, said, "He seemed rather convinced that you're his father. He even went so far as to say that his last name was Bane, just like yours."

Magnus sighed deeply, and said, "I'm going to explain all of this to you, but please don't tell Alec about it. I want him to hear it from my own mouth."

Carstairs only nodded.

"The boy isn't mine, though I know the mother. And I say 'know' in both senses of the term. Two years ago I dated her, but I ended that when I found out that I wasn't the only one who 'knew' her. There were at least seven others she was in the process of 'knowing' at the same time. Then a few days after I threw her out and told her to never show her face here ever again, she disappeared from the city. I thought she was gone forever. Then the other day she waltzes into my office and tells me that we needed to talk. Before I have a chance to say anything she kissed me. After Alec saw us, she walked out of there. That evening before I was drunk and Clary had to deal with me, she told me that we had a son. I told her I didn't believe a word she said and she would have to prove it to me by bringing him here. That's why she was here today, and she told me that he was mine, though he doesn't look like me. She's extorting me for money; in exchange she disappears again and apologizes to Alec that this was all her fault and to take me back."

He let out an exasperated sigh.

Carstairs said, "This presents an interesting difficulty. She has a lot of leverage over you now, especially since she was able to deduce your relationship with the Prince so easily. Hopefully she'll stay away. This of course is not why I'm here; I'm here to tell you that you will be returning tomorrow, but you will not see Prince Alexander at all. I am to act as your intermediary. Once you've finished your work, you will be required to leave his service."

Magnus, with tears in his eyes, nodded. Then his head peaked up and said, "Just give me one second!"

He ran upstairs to his room and came thundering down with a little piece of paper. He thrust it into Carstairs' hands and said, "Would you please give that to him? I know he probably doesn't want to read it and everything, but it would put me at ease to do this."

Carstairs deftly hid the paper somewhere up his sleeve and said, "I do not know if he will read it, but I will give it to him."

With that he gave Magnus a weak smile and left.

* * *

The letter sat on Alec's desk, unopened and begging to be read.

His eyes settled on the tiny little space between the folded pieces that begged to have his finger gently enter and lift upwards. As if under the control of some other being, his right hand slowly moved towards that space. Alec snatched his hand back and rested it precariously on the table, still eyeing the letter. He shouldn't, no he couldn't read it. Whatever Magnus had to say was going to be problematic for him. In all likelihood it would bring him rolling back to the beginning of everything, and that was unacceptable.

The fireplace behind him crackled with warm flames. For a moment, Alec considered throwing the letter into the flames and watching it burn. Like a phoenix he could be reborn from those flames. Out of the ashes a better, less distracted Alec could rise. He considered it for a moment. His left hand, this time under the control of a different being moved towards the letter. He snatched his hand back and placed it awkwardly on the table.

He stared at the letter for another minute. This situation was just so like him, he thought. It resembled all the issues in his life. Two seemingly simple choices with vast implications, and he the future leader of a nation, completely incapable of making a decision. For a moment he considered asking someone else, Izzy maybe, to make the decision for him. But then he remembered what Carstairs had said before leaving the letter in his possession, "Open it or don't open it, that's your choice. Remember though, that you must live with the consequences of this choice, and it is your choice only, not anyone else's."

Deciding to put off the decision till he had a clearer head, Alec picked up the paper and placed it on the shelf behind him. Out of sight and out of mind, Alec thought.

With the situation settled for now, he tried to resume his work.

Of course it failed spectacularly because out of sight did not mean out of mind. In fact, one could argue that out of sight meant even more in mind.

After an hour of failing to actually do work, Alec gave up and picked the letter back up again. His blue eyes settled yet again on the tiny space between the folded pieces. Uncontrollably, his right hand reached for that spot, and slowly began to lift up the paper. He caught sight of Magnus' handwriting, the beautiful calligraphy that spelled out one word on top: Alexander.

Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him; he opened up the letter, and read:

_Alexander,  
There are many things that ought to be placed in this letter, many things that you need to know about me and my past; however, they cannot all fit into this piece of paper. I will do my best to write something of an explanation here, but I must implore you to know that I cannot explain everything on paper. The only way to do this thoroughly is in person privately. I understand that you may have some reservations about seeing me, but I hope that after reading this the situation is clarified and you would be willing to speak to me.  
I was not forthright earlier; Camille is more than just an old friend. Two years ago, she and I were in a relationship. I found out that she had cheated on me with a number of others, and promptly removed her from my life. Three days after that she disappeared from Alicante all together. I thought she was gone forever and closed that chapter on my life. When you saw us in that act, she had unexpectedly entered my offices. There has not been anything between us since I ended our relationship two years ago. There is much more I can tell you about all of this, and I will, but only in person. If you should agree to such a meeting, please tell Carstairs; he will arrange everything.  
With love,  
Magnus _

Alec picked up the letter. His looked a bit wet with tears. The words on the page seemed fuzzy. Somehow, his left hand snatched it out of his right hand and promptly threw it into the raging flames.

Alec watched, with tears falling down his face, as the heartfelt letter charred into ashes. The burning was not a rebirth. Instead, there was a burning sensation in his chest where there should have been lightness. Getting up, he left the room and went to Carstairs' offices.

He opened the door and said, "Tell Magnus that we will have the discussion he wants, but that he is not forgiven, not until I hear everything from him."

Alec walked out and went back to his office. He slumped down on his desk and started to do the work he should have done an hour ago. Unfortunately, he was too distracted to really do anything; his mind focused on the impending meeting with Magnus and the truth that would come out of it. In addition to the pain in his chest, Alec was almost certain that he had made the wrong decision by reading the letter.

* * *

Much later that evening, long after Alec had gone to bed and the palace was quiet, a maid entered his office. Her job was to clean the fireplace. Her name was Daisy Mason. When cleaning the ashes, she found two remnants of a piece of paper. One badly burned piece said "Alexander." The other said, "love, Magnus." She knew she wasn't supposed to be reading these things, but curiosity got the better of her. She didn't know the contents of the letter, so it made no sense to her. Rather than sit around and stare at two pieces of paper she put them gently in the front pocket of her apron and continued cleaning.

At the end of her shift she went down to the servants kitchen for a light snack before bed. There she was approached by the crotchety old Miss O'Brien, the Queen's ladies maid. As usual, Miss O'Brien tried to gain information from Daisy about what she found in the offices she cleaned today. As usual, the indicated that there was nothing of importance, placing her hand cautiously on the pocket. Miss O'Brien noticed that gesture, and harped Daisy until she gave up and showed her the two pieces of paper. With a mischievous smile, Miss O'Brien took the papers and told her that she would destroy them since they were of no importance.

After Daisy had gone to bed, Miss O'Brien snuck back up to the main level and left the palace. In an alleyway tucked in the City of Ashes she met with a hooded man.

"M'lord, I think I may have something that will interest you."

The man removed his hood and revealed himself as Baron Valentine von Morgenstern. He smiled devilishly, and handed her two coins.

In exchange Miss O'Brien gave him the two pieces of burnt paper.

They each turned and walked their separate paths, laughing silently the entire way.


	24. Chapter 23

**Pandemonium: Chapter 23  
**_All credits obviously go to CC. _

* * *

Magnus' green eyes widened tremendously and his mouth curved upwards in what slowly became a large grin. He couldn't help but become giddy at the very words that were coming out of Carstairs' mouth. Alec had agreed to meet with him. It didn't matter that he wasn't forgiven; all that mattered was Alec's willingness to listen. All he had to do was tell Alec the truth and then everything would go back to the way it was; it might even get better. Magnus was hopeful and excited at the thought, but then Carstairs thew in the caveat: the meeting would be delayed for a week. Neither of them could be distracted with the result of the meeting before the Ascension Ball, so the meeting would happen the day before.

And so began the longest week of Magnus' life. He did his best to make sure that everything was perfect for the Ascension Ball. In fact, his drive for work was unparalleled by everyone else's in the palace, except perhaps Carstairs'.

For the most part the week was uneventful for Magnus, but there was one interesting interaction: a meeting with Jace.

Jace as it turns out was entirely unhappy with the situation regarding Magnus, and was even more unhappy when he heard that Alec was willing to meet Magnus. So vast was his unhappiness with the situation that he even bothered to pay Magnus a visit, something that neither of them were too keen on. Naturally, the conversation was awkward and horrid. After pouring them more cognac (it seems that Magnus had an unlimited supply), Jace began:

"Say what you must to Alec and then stay away from him."

"And why," Magnus asked, "would I do such a thing? Would you stay away from Clary if he told you to?"

"Don't bring her and me into this; we have nothing to do with the situation."

"But don't you? Isn't your situation similar? Two star-crossed lovers doomed to be together despite the universe conspiring against you?"

"That's not the point; I'm not bad for her like you are for him. You'll hurt him and destroy him."

"And what's the guarantee that you wont do that to her? What's the guarantee that you're not doing it this very moment?"

Jace seethed with rage and shouted, "WILL YOU JUST STOP!? We have nothing to do with this. At all."

Magnus just sat back and smiled. "You know it's true."

"We'll find a way to make everything work out in the end."

"And so will we. So, do you have anything constructive to say or are we done here?"

Jace glared at Magnus and, with a huff, stormed out of the room.

* * *

Apparently, Jace wasn't too happy with the result of his conversation with Magnus. Rather than give up on his task, he tried a different angle: Alec.

Just three days before the big day, Jace walked into Alec's office where he found him staring at a piece of paper-the speech.

"So," Jace said, "it's done then?"

Alec sighed; "Just barely."

"Look. I know you're going to have that meeting with Magnus in two days, but I don't want you to make the same mistake again. He's not good for you. I know it. Just listen and then move on your merry way."

"Jace, I-I-I, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me the past week. It's been really great. I think I'm going to handle this on my own though. I need to listen to what he has to say, and then I'll decide what course of action to take. Maybe he deserves to be forgiven. Clary did."

The hair on Jace's neck stood up again. Why was everyone using Clary as an example here? "Our situation is different than yours. She didn't go off and kiss someone else. She just-she just..."

"...just threatened our entire existence by working with her father, whom I'm absolutely sure at this point is bent on my utter destruction? Yes I suppose that's not as bad as kissing someone else. And even so, she was worth forgiving."

Jace's jaw dropped. He had never seen Alec say something so cold and unforgiving before.

"She-I-She-I-We..."

"...have all been forgiven and have moved on to bigger and better things. But I'd like my relationship with Magnus, whatever it ends up becoming, to be my private affair, not yours or anyone else's."

Alec went back to staring at the piece of paper, slowly mouthing the words that were written therein. Jace took that as a dismissal. Bowing, coldly he said, "Thank you for your time Your Highness."

* * *

Despite having failed to convince the two main actors that the relationship was a bad idea, Jace went to the next best person to try to stop what he saw as the inevitable demise of Alec; he went to Izzy.

Izzy must have heard from Alec what Jace had said earlier, for she was prepared. Before even letting him start she said:

"You're here to try to convince me to help you get Alec to leave Magnus after their meeting. Alec already told me you tried with him, and I'm guessing you started by trying with Magnus. Let me get something settled here with you: I'm not Magnus' biggest fan, but I've seen how happy Alec's been with him. I know you and I agree that Magnus has hurt him, but I also have seen how much happier Alec is with him. If there's a chance that Alec won't be his usual miserable morose self for the duration of his life, then I'm willing to risk the chance of him getting hurt, and if you're truly his friend, then I think you will too."

Jace was stunned. Of all the people he thought would say something like this, Izzy was the last person to fill that role. In fact, he had imagined her with a plan to stop them from getting together long before he would have approached her. Apparently, though, she was no longer on his side. She was being complacent; yet, her argument made some sort of sense. There was the possibility of Alec truly being happy. Still, Magnus was too much of a risk.

* * *

Jace then resorted to the clearest head of them all: Carstairs.

That turned out to be a disaster, but not for the reasons that are expected.

Prescient as always, Carstairs knew exactly what Jace was there for. And much like Izzy he prevented Jace from speaking and gave him his spiel:

"Alexander is going to do what he wants to, and nothing that I say or do will stop him. Still, I have some reservations about the return of Mr. Bane to the Prince's life. True, he was happier then than ever was before that, but I still worry that all that happiness could be for naught if Mr. Bane decides to transgress again. Alexander would probably never know happiness again. But all this thinking is beyond my station. I can only advise the Prince when he asks for my advice. He has not asked my opinion on the matter and so I can do nothing. I'm sorry Mr. Wayland, but I can be of no help to you. However..."

Before Carstairs could finish, the door burst open and Clary came running in.

Breathless, she stared angrily at Jace and said, "Stop trying to meddle with Alec and Magnus."

Caught off guard, he balked and asked, "What?"

" . . . . You're making Alec really angry by doing this behind his back, and now he keeps making pointed reference to our situation and how he didn't meddle with it even though he thought you talking to me was a bad idea. Now we look bad, you look like a hypocrite, Alec is angry, and probably even more determined to make it work with Magnus just to spite you. So just stop."

Finally, Jace resigned himself with a deep sigh. He had failed. Alec was going to talk to Magnus, be convinced by some sweet false words, and then be lead to his demise in a happy trail of kisses. All things considered, Jace was happier now that he could stop. It was pointless working so hard for something that seemed so inevitable-is that was love is? This inevitable force that even the universe cannot stop? That's what it felt like with him and Clary. That must be what it felt like for Alec and Magnus. What had Magnus called them? Star-crossed lovers. That's what they were. Star-crossed lovers. And when those stars imploded in their own fiery heat, it would be a spectacular end-a supernova in name and in actuality.

* * *

The next morning, a resigned and passive Jace went to Alec and apologized. In what turned out to be curt and simple, Jace asked Alec to forgive him for his transgressions and to understand that he was just looking out for his best interests. Alec in turn took the apology into consideration, but said that he had some issues trusting Jace because of his proclivity to go behind his back to do some things. Jace claimed he understood and respected Alec's reasoning. He then proceeded to leave and end things as they were.

After Jace had left, Alec continued to memorize his speech for the ascension ball that would happen two days hence. In reality though, the majority of his focus was to the impending conversation with Magnus. It would be a very contentious meeting, that he knew. Magnus was undoubtedly going to beg him to return to him, but Alec wasn't entirely sure he was ready for that to happen.

He thought about it for a lot, but decided by the end of the day, with less than half the speech memorized, that it was best for him to let Magnus explain first, then he would make judgements.

As he was crawling into bed and the embers smoldered in the fire place, Alec hummed a little tune and excitedly slept.

* * *

Two pairs of eyes met: one was a steely cold uncaring blue, the other was a dark black that consumed all the light around it.

As they met, a silent laughter escaped. It was a brief meeting, only in passing. But as they laughed the eyes disseminated important information regarding something, something for the future, some plans to cause demise. The owner of the black eyes deftly and inconspicuously handed a vial filled with an unknown liquid to the owner of the blue eyes.

They passed each other quietly and said nothing.

* * *

Alec felt like he was on fire. It was as if the rage of a thousand (not so splendid) suns coursed through his body. They burned him from within, consuming his body. He was screaming in pain, begging for respite from the fire and the rage.

Then as if someone was there with him, his request was answered. The flames disappeared and the world turned cold.

Winter came and he was buried 6 feet under a mound of snow. The tip of his nose and his extremities turned blue. With chattering teeth, he released a cry of anguish. The tears that flooded from his eyes froze as they rolled down his cheeks. This was worse than the flames.

Alec's mind turned to the warmth he had once felt with Magnus. The feeling of being ensconced in those arms and warm. The warmth brought back the flames.

Once again, Alec was consumed with the flames. This was the product of Magnus' warmth. Without it he was frozen, but with it he would burn to death. What kind of choice was that? Freeze to death or burn to death, but in the end to die? Perhaps it was better to die in the flames of passion and love. But the slow frozen death would give him more time to fulfill his duties.

It didn't matter because the ending was the same either way: death.


	25. Chapter 24

**Pandemonium: Chapter 24**_  
Credits to CC for her wonderful characters_

* * *

**AN: "Guess who's back? Back again? Shady's back. Tell a friend! Guess who's back, guess who's back, guess who's back... ...now this looks like a job for me, so everybody just follow me, cuz we need a little controversy because it feels so empty without me!" -Eminem**

Did I just quote Eminem? I don't know whether to be horrified at what I just did or really proud of myself. Eek? I mean it could have been worse, right? I could have quoted other artists...Eminem just felt so...so appropriate.

**Okay so I finally got to this. It took a lot of staring at an empty screen and I think it's probably my worst chapter so far. BUT on the bright side I can finally move to the more exciting stuff (especially if schadenfreude is something you like). Thanks for dealing with my quasi-Existential Crisis. I'm going to try to publish every Wednesday from now on, but that will probably change.**

* * *

The remaining days surprisingly passed with ease.

Before they could take a moment to breathe, Alec and Magnus found themselves sitting across from each other in the same place they had professed their love for each other a few weeks prior. This was it. This was the conversation that needed to happen.

They sat across from each other, staring intently. Neither wanted to begin. In those silent moments many things went unsaid. The air was alive with hidden whispers; proclamations of love, moments of laughter, prayers whispered in the dark of night all encompassed the dead empty space between them. This real silence was worse than any oppressive lack of sound Alec had faced in a nightmare. No external power controlled him here; the silence was of their own making. Time oozed slowly across the pages of history with the viscosity of tar.

After what felt like the rise and fall of the Rome, Magnus opened his mouth to speak. Or at least that's what Alec thought he was going to do. Instead Magnus just sneezed.

"Bless you!"

Alec paused. Despite everything he had reminded himself over the week, he ended up speaking first, which was not part of the grand plan.

Slowly, a wide smile spread across Magnus' face.

"So you're not cursing me anymore. That's good."

Alec folded his arms unhappily and pouted. This was not going as he planned. Magnus was acting all adorable and it wasn't helping him concentrate.

Magnus, of course stopped smiling as soon as Alec started pouting. He still couldn't deal with Alec pouting. The way his delicate lips curved downwards and quivered ever so slightly drove Magnus insane. His mind began wandering to the times when he could plant his own lips on those, when he could claim that soft face as his own, when Alec was his only, when...it was all pointless; that's why he was here: to get it back, to get Alec back. In order to do that he needed to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

His knuckles slowly got whiter as he clutched the arm rests of his seats as if they were the only things keeping him attached to this world. His heart picked up pace, and a small bead of sweat formed on the top of his forehead making him glisten just a bit more, not that Alec noticed. Despite the sudden dryness in his throat, Magnus meekly mumbled out, "I suppose it's time for me to start."

Alec said nothing. He didn't need to. The sudden dilation of his pupils that made them almost entirely encompass his eyes said it all. This was the moment he was waiting for, and despite what Magnus was thinking, Alec had noticed the small bead of sweat; it gave him both a small sense of smug satisfaction that he could make Magnus-the forever cool and always controlled-nervous and a larger sense of warmth because it meant that Magnus cared a lot about this conversation.

"So I've had-uh-a number of prior relationships to ours."

Alec simply raised his eyebrows.

Magnus wasn't entirely sure what that specific gesture meant. Was it surprise? Was it simple resignation? Was it a little sarcasm? Such a simple gesture, yet so many possible meanings. Sometimes physical actions said more than words could ever; right now was not one of those times. It would be much easier for Alec to talk, to say something-anything, but instead all Magnus got was silence, folded arms and raised eyebrows.

There was one meaning, though, that was completely clear from that statement: continue.

And so he pressed on. He began by explaining, with sparse details, about living alone for a very long time. Something about his mother passing away in a sad manner. If Magnus had been tense before, then now he was more strained than ever before. It was obvious that this part of the conversation was difficult. He continued, voice low and smooth. After some time, the tone changed. Slowly the deep bass of his voice became louder and slightly more baritone. Magnus was talking about a number of people: Camille "the green eyed bitch" Belcourt, Raphael "the sad but sexy latino" Santiago, and that little tryst with Woolsey Scott (which was underplayed as more physical than emotional, to Alec's complete and utter horror).

By the time all of this was done Magnus was schlumped over in his chair. Most of the energy that was originally in his eyes had drained from his face. Despite their lack of energy, Magnus' eyes still searched Alec's face in wonder, trying to find some physical reaction in his eyes or on his mouth that would tell him the answer he was looking for.

Unfortunately, Alec's face was perfectly stoic. He could have been posing for a portrait, if the artist wanted the paragon of stoicism, that was. His jaw and forehead were perfectly aligned. His eyebrows perfectly still, resting upon his eyes as if blissfully asleep. His eyes opened just the right amount, letting in the correct amount of light whilst refraining from giving any expression at all. His lips formed a simple shape, curved in what looked like the most natural form. His cheeks shone, pale like the moon and just as inanimate. The rest of his body language was perfect too. His arms were resting delicately on the rests were devoid of any pressure or movement; their relaxed approach signified nothing. His posture was regal, yet unconcerned; his back, while certainly not schlumping like Magnus', wasn't perfectly aligned either; rather, it was in a comfortable slight curve that was matched by his shoulders slight backwards rotation and easy going stance.

He had even mastered the empty gaze. He was looking neither here nor there. He stared intently at nothing. His pupils were directed at Magnus, but it was as if a glass film covered Magnus' face, preventing Alec from actually seeing anything. Magnus made two mental notes: Michelangelo's _Davide_ had nothing on Alec in terms of statuary hotness and he should avoid gambling with Alec at all costs-he had an impeccable poker face.

During these observations, Magnus kept his eyes wide open. He feared that if he blinked at this beautiful statue, at this angel of a boy, he might start weeping.

Finally, Alec let out a rather loud breath. It was an exhalation of such power that the emotion behind it was easily recognizable. To Magnus' confusion it was relief.

_Relief?_ Magnus thought. What would cause Alec to be relieved?

Alec couldn't help but be slightly entertained by the range of emotions that were consistently running across Magnus' face. He made a point to try to play poker with Magnus, especially if he was flustered or drunk; that would be a good night of monetary reaping. At every turn Magnus' face moved from complete adoration to fear to consternation to surprise to confusion. That's where it was now: confusion.

Having enjoyed himself on Magnus' behalf enough, Alec let his lips curve upwards slowly in a tiny smile.

Magnus' eyes crinkled further in confusion; he started to pout ever so slightly. He stared intently at Alec, and finally-with a bit of exasperation in his voice-he asked, "What?"

Shyly, Alec said "Your story was...interesting. I didn't know you were that...uh...experienced." Finally some color had come to his face. If, of course, by some color you mean bright red shame.

Finally it was Magnus' turn to be the stoic one. Raising a single eyebrow, he asked-with pressed lips-"is that all?"

All of Alec's previous bravado had crumbled into shambles under Magnus' piercing gaze. Staring down at the table, he mumbled something about Magnus' sincerity and his appreciation for the trust.

Smugness had come over Magnus. This was the Alec he recalled falling in love with, and the Alec he thoroughly enjoyed making nervous and jittery. Gone was the stoic statue-like prince, and back was the adorably awkward, slightly awestruck angel.

"And?" he asked.

At this point it had occurred to Alec that Magnus was going to go through the whole process with him. He was going to have to accept his apology and re-profess his love all over again; there was no other option. Half answers and awkward stares were not going to work. Magnus wanted a clear definition on their relationship. Magnus wanted him to choose, right there in that moment and place. He wanted Alec to choose between the heat and the cold.

Alec could barely control his own reactions. The warmth, the fiery heat that was emanating from Magnus was too much. It pulled at his soul and played with the very strings of his heart. It heated the very blood in his veins, filling him with warmth and energy. Alec felt more alive with Magnus than he had ever felt before. And what was the point of existing if one didn't feel truly alive?

Alec decided that the flames were better than the cold.

Better to live life like a short burning star then a cold never-ending winter, right?

This was to be his choice. He would die in an Inferno, to be pushed eternally back and forth by a terrible storm, but this life and even that punishment would be his to bear with Magnus; it was to be his Paradiso.

With the energy and warmth that had flooded his body upon the decision, Alec picked up his head and smiled with bright eyes.

"And," he said, "and I forgive you Magnus Bane, the Bane of my existence though you are, I love you and I cannot do anything but forgive you."

Magnus, giddy with joy, leaned across the table and kissed Alec.

It had been too long for both of them. The passion that they exuded was almost luminous. Love and warmth filled the room.

At some point during the intense make out session, Magnus groaned uncomfortably.

Pulling back sadly, Alec asked what was wrong.

Magnus, smiling devilishly, told him that the table was preventing his hands from doing certain things.

Alec blushed uncontrollably and looked downwards.

He shook his head a little regretfully and said, "N-n-not tonight. I need to...uh...sleep tonight because tomorrow is an important day."

Magnus rolled his eyes, and reluctantly agreed. Had they continued it was quite certain that neither of them would be sleeping much.

With a quick kiss, they parted.

As each returned to his respective bed, he flopped excitedly and smiled uncontrollably. This was a laugh of love.

That night Alec slept well. As he slept he didn't even worry about what the next day would bring, which probably was good because the next day would prove to be very interesting indeed.

* * *

**Sorry that sucked, but hey things can get moving again! I even have a whole plan mapped out and everything. Anyway I would just like to thank malecanddestiel and pseudonym808 for their wonderful encouragement. Also probably should just throw a shout out to Rick Riordan and Veronica Roth, whose two books that came out recently really helped me remember why writing and reading are awesome. **

**Anyway I'm very happy to be back!**


	26. Chapter 25

**Pandaemonium: Chapter 26**_  
If I owned these characters I wouldn't be writing this-obviously. Instead I'd be torturing all of us via Cassie's Tumblr and Twitter.  
_A short note about the speech. I have never written a speech before, so this is a new thing I'm trying. I'm writing it as I think it ought to be said, so certain things may be italicized, boldfaced, or underlined for emphasis; furthermore, I will be including certain physical actions (like longer pauses or gesticulations) in brackets. I watched a number of political speeches on the interwebz, so I apologize if I did this entirely incorrectly. Please let me know how it turned out!

* * *

A weak wane light filtered through the window. As it gently danced upon Alec's eyelids, he was roused from a deep peaceful sleep to join the waking world. Pulling himself upright on the bed, Alec took a moment to take in his surroundings. True, this morning was better than most-thanks mostly to the night before-but that didn't mean that the day would be any good. In fact, Alec was quite dreadful that the day's events would be rather frightening. This was a reasonable considering this was the day where he was announced to the entirety of Idris. This was the day everything became official.

After his regular morning routine, Alec sat down in his solar, only to be welcomed by a committee of people under the direction of Carstairs. He was quickly informed of two things: first, that he would not be leaving his chambers for the day while the committee-who turned out to be stylists and beauticians-took control of making him look nice, and second, that he would be required to have the speech memorized by the night.

It was no earlier than 8 in the morning, and the day was guaranteed to be a disaster. As soon as Carstairs had informed him of his fate for the day, the speech was thrust into his hands, and then he was rather unceremoniously carted to the bathroom where the beautification began.

To make things succinct, it will be said that Alec was reluctantly forced into a number of painful experience that involved wax, razors, scissors, some weird paste stuff, and far too much fabric for his own good.

While Alec was suffering through that, Magnus was sitting in his office humming happily. Well that is until Jace walked in.

Magnus huffed and rolled his eyes. "Well Goldilocks," he asked, "what can I do for you?"

Jace walked up to Magnus and pushed him up against the wall, glowering.

Magnus smiled wryly and said, "Well, well Goldilocks, I didn't think you were into this stuff, and while you're not so bad looking yourself, I'm unfortunately taken. Sorry about that."

Jace's face stiffened as he growled and said, "This is your only warning. Hurt him and you're dead. You so much as make him miserable once, and you'll be six feet under before you can even blink."

With that he backed off of Magnus and walked away.

Magnus was phased for a minute total. Then, he brushed the dust off of his clothes and then resumed humming happily.

Naturally he was interrupted again by another visitor. This time it was Izzy.

She came in bubbling and excited. She rushed over and embraced Magnus, telling him that he was forgiven and that they had so many things to talk about (specifically he _just needed_ to help her decide what to wear that night). While it wasn't exactly what Magnus had planned on doing the entire day, he was happy for the change of setting and for pace. After all, at this point in the day, he'd spent most of the time staring into space thinking of Alec and just how gorgeous they would make him look.

As luck would have it, the process with Izzy took the remainder of the day. She was perhaps the most indecisive, fashionably adept, woman he had ever met. The difficulty she faced deciding on what to wear-bright colors v. muted tones? short v. long? how much cleavage to show? how much leg? Strapless? No back?-could have been equated to the gordian knot. Luckily, Magnus was more than adept at playing the role of Alexander (and he did chuckle a bit at thought of him being Alexander...) and breaking free of the knot. By the time he was done, Izzy looked ravishing, to say the least. She ended up picking a slimming, sheer, long, black dress that had no back, but wasn't terribly low cut. It covered most of her legs too. She matched it with a delicate set of pearls for her ears and neck, along with long black opera gloves. She simply glowed.

Unfortunately that gave Magnus only an hour to prepare himself. And while an hour for most people would be a reasonable amount of time, especially since that individual was a male and not the person who was being honored at the festivities; however, Magnus Bane was certainly not most people, and while the festivities may not intentionally be about him, they had a tendency to become about him in the end anyway.

So, in a flurry of fabric mixed with some glitter and a whole lot of other stuff flying in the air, Magnus got prepared in an hour. Dressed in a sleek black outfit that matched his skin tone well, he scintillated quite a lot and seemed to reflect all the light in the room around him, no matter how dim it was. Of course anyone who walked past him would be hit with a wave of olfactory bliss that was his sandalwood scent.

By the time all of the madness was done, it was time for the party. Everyone had already assembled in the grand ballroom of the palace and was milling around, drinks in hand, trying to act in a somewhat gregarious manner. Most of these people either didn't know each other or had some antipathetic feelings, but that was just politics. Magnus quickly grabbed himself something fruity smelling and started to join the general false-faced congenial hand shaking that was going on. As he flittered around, he noticed there were a number of people that cleaned up nicely; as it turned out, Simon cleaned up somewhat nicely and Clary could work the green shimmery dress pretty well. It didn't help that Jace was ogling at her the entire time, though that may have been the point.

After what seemed like an eternity-though was really no more than half an hour-the band finally stopped playing the morose Mahler-esque tune and everyone heard the loud with the booming voice crash his staff on the floor three times and say: "Presenting, His Royal Highness Alexander Gideon Lightwood, Crown Prince of Idris."

Alec walked in on the balcony. Magnus was taken a back at how nicely he had transformed. It was even better than anything he or Izzy could do, and since they were the best, it was saying something.

He was dressed in the finest clothing Magnus had ever seen. The silk shone finely on his body, and they had somehow convinced him to put on a little make up because his face was incandescent like the moon. The real transformation though, was in his hair. Somehow the wild beast that was had not only been tamed but actually put to some good use. It had been cut, combed, gelled, and who knows what else to part nicely at the front and then go back. It was a very princely cut and looked well suited to have a crown on top. Of course Magnus hated it the moment he saw it. This Alexander was too porcelain. He looked like a doll just waiting to be fractured-pretty to look at, dangerous to touch. Alec with the messy hair, Alec with the natural blush, that was the Alec that Magnus loved, even though a crown would just get lost under the unruly mop of hair.

The only thing that had stayed the same were Alec's eyes. The blue orbs darted back and forth in their sockets searching for something-for anything to calm him down from the sight before him. Magnus always felt at home in a crowd. Milling around hundreds of people and being the center of their attention was entirely natural to him. Alec on the other hand would have preferred a library with a hundred books to a hundred people. Watching him interact with a few people was thoroughly awkward. A speech to a hundred people? Magnus' stomach sank with the feeling of impending doom. Part of him wanted to rush up the stairs to the balcony, kiss Alec and pull him away from this entire uncomfortable endeavor. But he knew that wasn't an option.

So instead, he-and every other person in the room (including some unfriendly faces)-stared intently at Alec and waited for him to say something.

* * *

To his credit, Alec was in control. Before walking out onto the balcony, he was utterly convinced that he would do the following three things (in no particular order): [1] Wet himself  
[2] Shat himself  
[3] Breakdown uncontrollably crying whilst in the fetal position

It had been approximately 15 seconds since walking out, and he didn't have the slightest inkling that either of the three would be occurring. Okay, so maybe he felt a little weak at the knees, but that was nothing that couldn't be handled. His eyes darted back and forth searching-searching for a familiar face that he could look into and feel comfortable. Well not just any familiar face, a specific familiar face. A caramel colored face with almond eyes the color of gold flecked forests. Unfortunately, he saw nothing like that in the crowd. He was, however, able to spot a couple of familiar faces; Jace cleaned up rather nicely, Alec noted somewhat wryly; even Simon-who looked more uncomfortable than Alec-seemed to put in some effort to look good for the evening.

Was it what Alec was looking for? No, obviously. But it was enough.

Alec remembered what Carstairs had told him just prior to leaving his chambers: "Relax. Remember, they don't care about the middle-only about the beginning and the end. Start strong and finish stronger. They'll love it and then it's over."

Alec stared out into the crowd again for a second, hoping to catch Magnus, but he didn't succeed. All he succeeded in finding were the cold black eyes of Baron von Morgenstern. For once that look didn't make him scared; instead, it filled him with resolve; resolve to make this speech so good that the man would back off.

Alec drew himself up to this full height. He rolled his shoulders back just gently. He lifted his chin so that he was staring directly in front of him at the audience. He inhaled deeply with his nose, allowing his lungs to fill to their maximum capacity. Then with a pause for effect, and a voice that was so strong and powerful that he wasn't even sure it belonged to him, Alec began:

"Your Majesty; My Lords; My Ladies; Honored Guests; Friends, and Fellow Countrymen of Idris, I...Alexander Gideon Lightwood...humbly and graciously accept the role of your Crown Prince. [Pause]. And that is what this role is. I am not _the _Crown Prince. Nor am I _my_ Crown Prince. I am **_your_**Crown Prince. That is the nature of this role-of any role in government. I exist-_we_ exist solely to serve the people.  
To some of you, this comes as a surprise, I'm sure. I do not blame you. For far too long you've lived under the wrong impression. You've lived under the impression that The Crown is a self-serving entity designed to perpetuate its power over the years, designed to accumulate vast amounts of wealth, designed to expand indefinitely to the world beyond. **And that is a lie.  
** We forget our history. We forget even ourselves at times. We have come very far from our humble beginnings, yes, but we must never forget why we were put on this earth. We are not here to keep our power in perpetuity; we are not here to accumulate vast amounts of wealth; we are not designed to expand indefinitely to the world beyond. We are here to serve the people who once, hundreds of years ago, asked us to take this position. It is by **_their _**grace that we rule, and it is with **_their _**permission that I stand before you today. To forget them is to forget ourselves. And who are we once we have forgotten ourselves? What purpose do we serve?  
The people we serve; the people who put us in this place, they have suffered through injustice after injustice after injustice. Our mandate is multifaceted, but the one feature that presents itself above all others is justice. The justice that we owe to those people. The justice that we have taken away time and time again.  
Today we stand at the brink of two very different realities. In front of us lies the great chasm of despair. The chasm we will fall into if we continue to let the virtue of justice fall to the side. Beyond is a dark pit, cold and uncaring. What lies beyond is nothing short of chaos, a gaping pit waiting to swallow us all. [Pause] But we stand at the brink. We have not fallen over the edge..._yet. _We can take a step back today. We can return to the place we originally came from, the place where we belong, together. A land that was the greatest in the world. A land that was the envy of the globe. A land where justice is the ruling principle, not power.  
We have a choice. Return to what was or trudge on to our very end. The choice is simple. We will step back from the abyss and become what we once were.  
The first time I saw Alicante was at sunrise on a hill outside of the city. As the sun became newly ascendant, its rays gently caressed the top of the glass spires of this city. Then with golden brilliance, the sky burst forth with light and shimmered in the sun's powerful glory.  
It is time to become that ascendant sun again. We will hit the spires of Alicante with light and illuminate the entire valley. Nary a shadow will hide from our ascendant glory. Evil and injustice cannot hide in the shadows from a light so powerful, a light so bright. Even the woods will be lightened. [Pausing and chuckling with nervous laughter] Perhaps you could call them Lightwoods. [Pauses as the audience chortles]  
Our sunrise is now. So I ask of you today one thing and one thing only: rise with me. Rise with me and shed light and justice across our country. Let no shadow stay in the dark. Together we can push back the darkness and walk away from the brink. Together we can do what we set out to do all those years ago: serve the people."

* * *

Magnus just stared. His mouth was agape, but then again so was everyone else's. This was not the prince they knew. The one who preferred books to people, the one who preferred to remain unnoticed in the shadows. How was it that the boy-no the man-who loved the shadows, and took solace in them, could possibly be calling everyone to eradicate those very shadows in favor of an abstract term such as justice. It just made no sense. It was the greatest transformation he had ever seen. Yet it wasn't exactly what he wanted. This Alec was too princely. Too much of a politician. Sure he was fighting for justice, which was very Alec-like, but the way that had all come out was so powerful, so effective, it just couldn't have been him.

By the time Magnus had closed his mouth, he realized that everyone else was clapping. Clapping was an understatement. They were cheering. Roaring really. It was like children had just been fed mounds and mounds of candy. They couldn't stop screaming. He noticed, with a certain amount of jealousy, that a number of ladies were eyeing Alec a bit coyly.

* * *

Alec let out a deep breath and relaxed his body. He slowly started to move down the staircase. His mind was so clouded he barely noticed the noise emanating from his surroundings. The cheering couldn't break the fog in his head. At the foot of the staircase that lead down from the balcony, he was met by Izzy. He took her arm, noting that for once she was appropriately dressed, and walked into the crowd.

The band started crooning again, but their noises were lost in the applause.

Somewhere in a corner filled with shadows, a man with white hair and dark eyes frowned sternly.


End file.
